Sports

By HANK ROBICHAUD   On Mar. 9 the Aztec women’s team were able to regain the Region 1, Section II title when they overcame the Mesa Community College Thunderbirds 80-58. The Thunderbirds had won the two previous championships.  After a tight first quarter which the Aztecs led 18-16, Haile Gleason set the tone in the second quarter by scoring five straight points forcing Mesa to call timeout. The Aztecs used a 12-3 run to take their first double digit lead at 30-19 forcing the Thunderbirds to call another timeout with 4:13 left in the half. Pima continued with a 10-4 run at the end of the quarter, and led 40-23 at the break after out scoring Mesa 22-7 in the quarter. From there, Jacqulynn Nakai took over scoring 22 of her 30 points in the second half. She went 8 of 14 from the ...

By Henry Robichaud   Jaquelynn (JJ) Nakai reached a milestone goal for her career getting to 1,000 career points. She has been Pima’s MVP this season scoring 23.7 points, dishing out 7 assists, and bringing down 5 rebounds per game. She is a big time player in the ACCAC (Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) as she has had eight ACCAC Player of the Week awards. Surpassing Sydni Stallworth, who won the award seven times.. This has earned her the opportunity for more looking forward to play at the next level.   “Right now I have offers from the University of Nevada and NAU, and there are more that are in contact and are planning out their offers.” Nakai said. NAU would be an interesting option for Nakai because she is from the flagstaff area. She has been a great play...

Pima Rolls onto Third Straight Regional Championship By MONTY GANTT The Pima Community College Men’s Basketball team dominated Scottsdale Community College March 8 to win its third straight NJCAA Region 1, Division II championship. March 8 vs. Scottsdale CC 107-73  The No. 1-ranked Aztecs defeated the two-seeded Scottsdale Community College 107-73 to win the NJCAA Region I, Division II championship.  The Aztecs started the game hot shooting for 7 from the field and took a 27-8 lead, which forced the Fighting Artichokes to call a timeout six-and-a-half minutes into the first half.  Pima took a commanding 60-36 lead at halftime after shooting 70 percent (23 for 33) from the field and hitting 8 three-pointers.  “We knew we had to come out strong and set the tone and not let them (Scot...

BY: ALEXANDER LOPEZ Title: Men’s Golfers shine at Pima Invitational   The Aztec Men’s golf Team closed out their home invitational Feb.19, at Omni National Golf Course, 6 strokes behind the top spot. The teams two-day total of 597 (299-298) was enough to secure second place but wasn’t enough to hold off South Mountain Community College who’s two-day total was 591 (303-288). The Aztecs didn’t go down without a fight. Leading after day one, by a slim margin of 4 shots, Pima fell to South Mountain, in the team competitions, who turned up the heat and put it away in day two. Freshman Matthew Fimbres (Cienega High School) placed second with a two-day total of 143 (71-72), missing first place in the individuals competition, by one shot to South Mountain’s Brandon Meyer. Sophomore...