There comes a time when the kids are old enough to crack open a couple of cold ones with their parents.
Pima women's basketball head coach Todd Holthaus had the perfect window to drink a beer with his two daughters, Makayla and Annalise, moments after leading the Aztecs to a NJCAA Division II national championship — the first in program history.
It was the first beer Holthaus shared with Annalise, a former Pima forward, who recently turned 21.
"We haven't had a father-daughter beer. That night after the game, it was very appropriate that we celebrated her first beer with a championship beer," Holthaus said. "I got to have my first beer with my daughter during the championship celebration."
Beer of choice? Budweiser.
"I will say this, she hated the beer," Holthaus joked. "She let me pick, which was her biggest mistake."
The Aztecs' celebration also consisted of pizza "from this pizza joint we fell in love during the week" Pima was in Hickory, North Carolina, for the NJCAA Division II Tournament, added Holthaus — a week ending with fourth-seeded Aztecs avenging last season's championship loss to top-seeded Johnson County Community College (Kansas) in the semifinals, then outlasting Kirkwood Community College (Iowa), 64-58, in the national championship on Saturday.
Pima was led by its point guard-forward tandem of Melicia Nelson and Kiley Sours-Miller, who finished her Pima career with 1,267 career points, 674 rebounds and 128 blocks.
Sours-Miller recorded a double-double, 27 points and 10 rebounds in her Pima finale, and Nelson poured in 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Nelson made the go-ahead layup in the semifinals against Johnson County.
Pima post player Kiley Sours-Miller (22) dribbles down the court during an afternoon practice inside Aztec gymnasium, Feb. 12, 2026.
Pima (30-4) ended its championship season on an 18-game winning streak. Days after Pima's championship, Holthaus described the championship hangover "as a big sigh, that's the best way to put it."
"(Sunday night) was probably the first night of sleep I got in about a week, because you spend every day scouting and watching film, prepping," he said. "Then you win it, I didn't get a chance to sleep; I was floating for a whole day, then I crashed when we got home. ... There's a lot of gratitude. That's the best word to describe how I feel."
Holthaus continued the celebration in Tucson on Monday with "a nice, fat (medium-rare) steak, a baked potato and I'm going to do it Iowa style."
Holthaus recently joined "Spears & Ali" on ESPN Tucson this week to recap Pima's championship journey and the significance of the Aztecs cutting down the nets.
Every season is its own unique journey, so how would you summarize the stretch between the start of the season in October to the end of the season in late March?
A: "The title of the DVD is 'Highs and lows, but you end on a high.' This team, we had to grind throughout the course of the year. I always schedule hard (teams), because I want us to be battle-tested. We got to nationals, and everyone there is good. Women's basketball in general has gotten more talented and deeper.
"The top 10 teams are great enough to win, so we had to battle each game. Every game was a different style, so we had to play a few different styles over the course of the week. We beat Johnson County in the semifinals, and that's who knocked us out of the championship last year. To win it all, we had to beat Kirkwood. In our world, they're like UConn of (NJCAA) Division II basketball, because the guy (Kim Muhl) who coaches there has 10 titles. We had to knock him off in the championship.
Pima guard Melicia Nelson (24) works on her jump shot during an afternoon practice inside Aztec gymnasium, Feb. 12, 2026.
"We have a great point guard. When it's crunch time, she took over. We have a dominant post who can go through anybody, but our point guard took over when we needed her to step up. We owned the glass this year and played great defense. ... That's why we woke up national champs.
"It was a grind, but it was so worth it, I'll tell you that. In those low moments, you're like, 'Man, are we really good?' You just push through it. I'm stubborn and I refuse to let us go backwards. During tough times, you gotta keep pushing, because it'll lead to great things."
In the last year, you've eclipsed 400 career wins, you had a health scare with your heart and longtime assistant coach Jim Rosborough — known for his career with Lute Olson at Arizona — is stepping away from his full-time role as an assistant on your staff. How much does this championship mean considering the last year for you?
A: "It's so surreal. When you say all of those things, those are all things I thought about. You just try to do things the right way all the time, and you have to trust that the stars will align and you get your moment. After that buzzer went off, I stood there in awe. I didn't know what to do. I just absorbed it.
"We've been good for so long and there are so many ladies that went through our program and played in nationals or the national championship game but came up short. It felt so good because that was for all of them. What the girls of this year's team accomplished, it's a tribute to the 19 years of work we put in.
"I love representing Tucson. I love representing Pima. I'm so proud to live here and do the things we do. For us to win a national championship for Tucson, that makes me feel good."
How does this championship set up Pima for next season?
Todd Holthaus, head women's basketball coach at Pima Community College, talks to his players following an afternoon practice inside Aztec gymnasium, Feb. 12, 2026.
A: "We lose our two dominant pieces (Nelson and Sours-Miller). We were lucky to have a tremendous point guard and a dominant post. It's not often you have those two things at the same time. But when you win a national championship, it makes recruiting a little bit easier. Now you have people's attention, and you can get higher-quality kids.
"We've got a few pieces in place for next year's squad. I' know one thing: we'll work hard, we'll play great defense and we'll push the tempo. It might be different characters, but the bullseye will be big on us."
