Two wins are all that separates the Pima College men’s and women’s basketball teams from the NJCAA Division II national tournament.
The Aztecs closed the regular season last Tuesday in Yuma against Arizona Western and split the results. The women added a win to their record, while the men suffered a loss.
“We felt like we didn’t come out and play as hard as we should have, but I think we should be OK,” sophomore Isaiah Murphy said. “We’re still sitting at the top half of the conference, so we’re going to play in this playoff and work hard and try to make a run.”
Both teams will host their respective Region I, Division II semifinal games. The women play Glendale Community College at 7 p.m. Tuesday and the men play South Mountain Community College at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
In their two previous matchups this season, the women split games with the Gauchos. The Aztecs won the Nov. 14 game 84-59, but then lost Jan. 31, 77-73.
“I expect us to come out and play the way we’re supposed to play,” women’s coach Todd Holthaus said. “That’s our job as a coach, to get them ready. So, when Tuesday night 7 o’clock comes around, we’ll be as primed and ready as we’ll ever be. We’ll see what happens.”
The Pima men beat South Mountain both times earlier this season. First, they handed the Cougars a 40-point loss Dec. 9 and then played a closer game Feb. 7, but still won 90-73.
Although the Aztecs have the upper hand going into Wednesday’s game, Murphy said they’re not overconfident.
“You’re going to expect a lot of fast-tempo play, a lot of intensity, because we’re looking to make a rundown to get to the national tournament,” he said.
Last week, the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference also announced their All-Region and All-ACCAC teams.
Pima freshman Jacqulynn Nakai was picked as the ACCAC Division II Player of the Year. This is the third consecutive year a Pima athlete won the award. Sydni Stallworth won the recognition in 2016 and 2017. Nakai also made the first team All-ACCAC and first team All-Region I, Division II teams.
“Anyone who doesn’t know her can’t say ‘well, she got lucky’ or ‘how did she get it,’ because anyone who does know her knows she works her butt off every single day,” Holthaus said of Nakai. “She’s in the gym all the time, she’s got a great spirit, great personality and great rapport with her teammates.”
Christine Ortega made the All-ACCAC second team and was named first team All-Region. Holthaus said he couldn’t be happier for Ortega’s recognition because the sophomore has been working hard ever since she suffered an ACL injury in high school and has been working on building her confidence back up.
“I would say it’s really a blessing,” Ortega said. “I’ve been working towards it my entire basketball career. I would say my hard work really did pay off.”
Izzy Spruit was also recognized. The sophomore guard was named third team All-ACCAC and second team All-Region.
“Izzy sometimes gets overlooked as just a shooter, but for the whole conference and all the coaches to recognize her importance to our success, to me, that was a pat on the back for her,” Holthaus said.
For the men, Murphy and Kevin Biggs were named first team All-ACCAC and first team All-Region. Abram Carrasco made the second team All-ACCAC and second team All-Region.
“They definitely deserve it,” men’s coach Brian Peabody said. “Nobody’s worked harder these last two and three years than Isaiah and Biggs. And here’s two local guys from Cienega High School that believed in the program, believed in me, believed in trusting the process. Because of all that, now their hard work is paying off.”
The women (22-8, 16-6 conference) are entering Tuesday’s matchup ranked No. 13 nationally. Holthaus said the team overachieved in a lot of ways this season because the Aztecs had lost five starters, added a lot of new faces and faced a lot of pressure and expectations.
“If you would have told me that at the beginning at the season, I would have taken that in a heartbeat,” Holthaus said. “We had a couple of losses down the stretch, but take those, you learn from them and you get ready for playoffs. We’re still alive and that’s all that matters now.”
The men finished the regular season matching school records with 26 wins, including 18 in conference. This is the fifth consecutive year the Aztecs, who are ranked No. 7, qualified for the playoffs.
Sophomore Alize Travis said the men have had a great year together.
“It was a really good year for us, but we’re still getting better, improving,” Travis said. “So far, it’s been exciting. It’s been different. It’s been a lot of struggles, ups and downs, but the majority has been ups.”
Freshman guard Abram Carrasco credited the team’s success to the trust the players have in each other.
“We’re like a family,” Carrasco said. “I feel like that’s why we’re all playing so good right now.”
Both home contests will be white-out games at the West Campus Gymnasium.
