Cochise Men's and Women's Hoops open up 2022-2023 seasons with wins
DOUGLAS, Ariz. -- Men's Basketball: The Four Time defending ACCAC champion and 20th ranked Cochise College Apaches opened the 2022-23 season with a pair of blowout victories at home this past Friday and Saturday in the Cochise Stronghold Gymnasium over the Community Christian College Saints from NJCAA Region 18.
On Friday night Cochise used a strong defensive effort to jump out to a 52-13 lead at halftime over the Saints. With 10 minutes left in the contest the Apaches led 83-24 while cruising to a 111-52 win to start the season 1-0. Cochise had 7 players score in double figures and was led by Sophomore Oscar Cluff who tallied a double-double with 18 points and 18 rebounds. Sophomore, Tyreese Watson added 16 points on the night as did Freshman Tracy Godfrey Jr.
On Saturday afternoon in a 4pm matinee, the Apaches once again used a very strong defensive effort to jump on the Saints again, leading 62-10 at halftime. Once again the Apaches used a balanced scoring attack to route the visiting CCC Saints. Cochise once again had 7 players tally double figures. Freshman, MJ Clegg came off the bench to score 21 points while Freshman post man Tracy Godfrey Jr. added 19 points in the blowout win. Sophomores, Tyreese Watson and Oscar Cluff each chipped in 18 points while Freshman Jalen Barbee tallied a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Freshmen guards Jordan Hernandez and Riley Parker each chipped in 12 points in the route.
The 2-0 Apaches travel to Odessa, Texas November 18-20 to take on Midland College, Odessa College, and New Mexico Junior College respectively.
Women's Basketball: The Lady Apache's Women's Basketball team opened their season on the road visiting Odessa, TX for weekend matchups with New Mexico Junior College and Odessa Community College. On Friday afternoon, Cochise fell short to NMJC 67-41 in their season debut with the leading scorer Chana Paxixe coming off of the bench with 13 points. The highlight of the evening for the Lady Apaches was finishing a perfect 9 for 9 at the free-throw line along with 23 total rebounds. Maeva de laFortuna Ngnawo led the way defensively with 5 rebounds. On Saturday morning, Cochise bounced back earning their first win of the season defeating Odessa College 60-48. Paxixe was again the leading scorer putting up 14 points along with 7 rebounds. Deja Jones added 11 points along with 8 points and 6 rebounds from Freshman Andjela Bigovic. Cochise lead by as much as 16 in the 2nd half mainly due to the scoring effort off of 22 points from the bench. The 1-1 Lady Apaches are back on the road this week, as they head to Thatcher, Arizona for matchups with Snow College, Eastern Wyoming, and Community Christian.