PHOENIX — A new chapter is beginning for the Bourgade Catholic High School girls basketball program, and first-year head coach Kurtis Gipson is embracing it as both a challenge and an opportunity.
“It’s been a life-changing experience,” Gipson said. “It’s been family-oriented with the ability for me to actually build the culture, change the culture and bring in this new way of playing basketball.”
Gipson, who enters his 20th year of coaching but first as a high school girls head coach, inherits a young but determined roster. The Lady Golden Eagles return five underclassmen and will play with a total of nine players this season — with no seniors. Despite the small roster, Gipson said his experience with similar programs has prepared him.
“With a small bunch, it’s more reps, and with more reps means that we get more work,” he said. “That’s what helps build the chemistry that they’re going to see on the court this year.”
That chemistry has been building steadily since summer. Bourgade Catholic competed through June and into the fall, notching 12 wins against 4A, 5A and 6A schools in offseason play. For Gipson, the focus wasn’t on wins and losses but on trust and growth.
“It was more about development and getting them to understand this new way of playing,” he said. “These girls are hungry.”
One of those is junior center/power forward Channel Ochoa (’27), who is set to play her first full season with Bourgade Catholic after transferring her sophomore year.
“I want to win every single game,” Ochoa said. “Last year I couldn’t play, so I want to have fun, but I always want to win.”
Ochoa said the offseason focus was on improving communication and conditioning, key components of Gipson’s up-tempo, defense-first system.
“Our defense is our strength,” she said. “Our communication has improved, and we’re a really strong team together.”
Gipson described his style as “organized chaos” — a fast-paced, read-and-react brand of basketball built around defensive pressure.
“My defense is my offense,” he said. “It’s really just a fast-paced, smart, read-and-react, go, go, go, and we see who can catch that last breath.”
Both coach Gipson and Ochoa agree the biggest challenge for the program will be staying healthy and maintaining eligibility with such a small roster. But both are confident in the team’s resilience.
“We’re a solid family where everybody holds everybody accountable,” Gipson said. “The fun part is I have no seniors, so these underclassmen for the next couple years are going to be great.”
For Ochoa, the excitement of simply getting to play again outweighs the challenges ahead.
“I just want to play,” she said with a smile. “It was really hard sitting out, but I told myself it was just one season. Now I’m ready.”
As Bourgade Catholic girls basketball tips off its 2025–26 campaign at home on Nov. 20 against Seton Catholic Preparatory at 7p.m., both coach and players are united under a single goal: to compete, to grow, and to prove that the Lady Golden Eagles are soaring into a new era.
“People are going to underestimate us,” Gipson said. “But when they see us this year, it’s going to be fun because they won’t know how to hit us.”
