After amazing performances during the 2010-2011 & 2011-2012 high school basketball seasons, the lady Knights of St. Mary's High School have returned again this season to pick up right where they left off the last two seasons.
Last season was a perfect season for St. Mary's, as they made history in the state of Arizona for girl's basketball - finishing with a perfect 30-0 record on the season and winning their second-consecutive state championship in easy fashion. The Knights also won the coveted Nike Tournament of Champions girls tournament during the winter, and also an historic national championship (by ESPN) and #1 national ranking.
The Knights saw the graduation of last year's two top seniors, Shilpa Tummala, our 2012 Arizona Preps Player of the Year, who signed with Harvard, and also Cortnee Walton who signed with the University of Louisville. After losing both top-rated prospects to graduation, the Knights have not slowed down one bit. In fact, they have continued to progress and this spring and summer the team saw 6 of their returning players commit to college programs.
This fall, the Knights saw five different seniors from this year's team sign with college programs. Twin senior guards, Danielle and Dominique Williams would sign with the University of Michigan and UCLA, respectfully, while senior post Chantel Osahor would sign with the University of Washington. 5-foot-7 senior guard Chloe Johnson signed a national letter of intent with San Diego State University, and 5-foot-11 senior guard/forward Brandee Walton would sign with New Mexico State.
A sixth member of this year's team, 6-foot-1 junior guard/forward Courtney Ekmark, currently rated among the top 10 overall prospects in America's 2014 class by ESPN, would shock the country - giving an early verbal committment to the nation's top women's basketball program, UCONN.
While the boys basketball program at St. Mary's HS, once regarded as one of the premier programs in the state, has seen their recent struggles, the girl's program has flourished. This season, the lady Knights are already off to another amazing start to the 2012-2013 high school basketball season - winning their first 7 games of the season and currently holding on to a #4 national ranking in the country by MAXPREPS.
St. Mary's has rolled this season in a major way - winning by an average margin of 42 points per/game. The Knight's only competition so far this season came at the hands of Dixie HS (UT) in the NGS Classic in Page, Arizona - a game in which St. Mary's won by 18 points. The Knights went on to win the tournament with a 26-point win over Chandler HS in the championship game - a team that gave them a tough contest last season.
St. Mary's, our pre-season favorite to go undefeated this season, once again, and win their third consecutive state title, will look to repeat as champions in this year's Nike Tournament of Champions later this month (12/20 - 12/22) - an event where they will face their toughest competition of the season.
The Knight's only true in-state competition this season will come in January when they host Hamilton HS (9-1), a rematch of last year's state championship game, and also Xavier College Prep (7-1).
Can the lady Knights do it again this season and run the table? So far this season, it looks like a resounding yes, as this team looks to be on another mission - led by the excellent leadership of head coach Curtis Ekmark.
