By Matt Hickman/Sierra Vista Herald
The Cochise College men’s and women’s basketball teams each concluded weekend tournaments with two more wins notched on their belts before conference play begins this week.
The Apache women, playing at the Eastern Arizona Tournament in Thatcher, upset nationally-ranked New Mexico Junior College on Friday, 65-64, thanks to a putback by Johnishia Welles with just three seconds left.
“They were a very talented team, so this was a good win for our team, our program,” second-year Cochise head coach Laura Hughes said.
Hughes drew up a play after calling timeout with six seconds left and her team trailing 64-63. Yvonte Neal, who finished with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, got a clean look, but missed. Welles was there to clean up the game-winner against NMJC, which was ranked eighth in the NJCAA preseason poll. Welles finished with 15 points and Ashley Mitchell added 11.
“We got out to a really big early lead, and they came back in the second half, but the main thing was we stayed with it and played really good defense,” Hughes said. “We forced 27 turnovers.”
Cochise concluded the tournament with a 107-63 win over Tohono O’odham Community College on Saturday to push its record to 3-0 to start this season. The Apaches we led by Tianna Brown with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Neal also had 21 points, and Welles finished with 20.
The Cochise men, playing in the Pima Community College Tournament, led No. 23 Odessa College all the way in a 78-73 win Friday.
The Apaches took a 42-34 lead into halftime. On multiple occasions in the second half, Odessa whittled the lead down to two, but each time, Cochise responded.
“It was a hard-fought, close game,” Cochise head coach Jerry Carrillo said. “Our guys really buckled down when it got close.”
Joe Bell Austin hit five of six free throws down the stretch to keep the Wranglers at bay. Tim Jacobs led Cochise in scoring with 15 points, followed by Jordan Russell with 12, Jerry Duckworth with 10 and Anddrew Hawkins with nine.
The Apaches concluded the tournament in Tucson with a 121-99 win over New Mexico Military Institute on Saturday. Duckworth nailed seven 3-pointers on his way to 22 points, a number matched by Demeco Blue, as the Apaches jumped on top 15-2 and never looked back.
The Cochise men and women both open Arizona Community College Athletic Conference play at home this Thursday against Phoenix College. The women’s game begins at 5:30 p.m. and the men’s game follows at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free to all regular-season games on the Douglas Campus.