2008 Volleyball Camp
July 28 - 31, 2008
Grades: 5-12, no experience necessary
See Flyer for details!
(Camp will be limited to 40 participants, each session. Sign up early)
April 28, 2008
5 Cougars Named All-Conference
By Jim Richards
Congratulations are in order to five Cougars, Daniel Romero, Adam Bailey, Jordan Whatcott, Josh Garcia and Shane Dyer, for being named to the ACCAC's All-Conference team.
Romero, a pitcher, Bailey and outfielder and Whatcott both a pitcher and infielder, were named to the 1st team while corner infielder Garcia and Dyer, a pitcher, were named to the 2nd team.
April 27, 2008
SMCC Baseball Update
By Jim Richards
FINAL FOUR ON THE FINAL DAY
Friday’s home loss to Chandler-Gilbert along with a victory by Central Arizona, brought the post-season fates of four ACCAC Division I teams all the way into Saturday’s final day of the regular season. More 
April 25, 2008
Softball Update
By Jim Richards
SCHMALLEN ERA SET TO BEGIN
Kristina Schmallen knows what it’s like to be a part of a champion ACCAC softball team and she’s of the opinion that she can guide a club to the top.
“If you look at the last six to 10 years of National Champions, at Division I or DII, a junior college softball team has won from the state of Arizona,” said Schmallen, who will replace the retiring Tony Maya as SMCC’s new softball coach at the end of the current season “The kids are here. We just have to get them.” . More
April 23, 2008
Baseball Update
By Jim Richards
There was enough elbow grease left in Daniel Romero’s throwing (right) elbow Tuesday afternoon and the Cougars elbowed their way back into second place with a critical double-header sweep of Cochise College. But with only two games remaining, a spot in four-team NJCAA Region I Division I Tournament is not yet a certainty. More
April 21, 2008
Kelly, Cuen Fuel Arizona All-Starts Upset
Basketball Update
By Jim Richards
Tyrone Kelley and Dave Cuen were both instrumental in getting SMCC to its first NJCAA national tournament this season and they went out in the same manner.
Kelley scored nine points and Cuen had eight with seven rebounds in the Arizona All-Stars’ 101-97 upset victory over the NJCAA Division I All-Stars in the NJCAA National Men’s Basketball All-Star Game at Scottsdale Community College Sunday afternoon. More
April 21, 2008
Baseball Update
By Jim Richards
SMCC baseball coach Todd Eastin is looking for a few good arms and he knows exactly where they are.
But he doesn’t know if he can use them in what is heading up on the most important week of the season. More
April 17, 2008
Eilertson Wins Conference Award
By Jim Richards
With ace Daniel Romero on the sidelines the past two weeks, spot starter/reliever JT Eilertson gave the Cougars something they badly needed. Eilertson, a transfer out of Western Oregon University, won two games during the week that ended April 13 and was named the ACCAC’s Division II Pitcher of the Week. More
April 16, 2008
Sideout Smarts--SMCC volleyball Wins National Award
By Jim Richards
Too often in amateur sports the student part of "student-athletes" tends to take a back seat to athletes. But SMCC volleyball coach Pat Mooney has had a history of getting the most out of his athetes not only on the court but in the classroom. Mooney, whose Phoenix College teams captured the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year honor in 4 of his 5 years at the school, did it again this season as his Cougars' squad was awarded the national honor for the 2007-08 school year. More
April 8, 2008
Basketball Update
By Jim Richards
COUGARS CAGERS TO PLAY ONE LAST JUCO GAME
Led by NJCAA All-Americans Dave Cuen and Tyrone Kelley and ACCAC Coach of the Year Dan Nichols, the Cougars will be well-represented at the April 20th NJCAA Men’s Basketball All-Star Game to be played at Scottsdale Community College.
Cuen and Kelley will be part of a 10-man Arizona All-Stars squad that will take on the NJCAA National All-Stars in the event’s marque game at 3 p.m. The NJCAA All-Stars are made up of 10 top Division I players from across the nation. Nichols will assist ACCAC Co-Coach of the Year Kelly Green of Arizona Western. More
April 7, 2008
SMCC Baseball Update
By Jim Richards
Sophomore right-hander Daniel Romero’s brilliant 13-strikeout, complete-game performance lifted SMCC to a 5-0 victory in Game 1 of Saturday’s key double-header with No.17 and ACCAC-leading Yavapai College. But a defensive breakdown in Game 2 left the Cougars in a different kind of race with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
Four errors --not including several other defensive misplays--led to Yavapai’s 14-8 win that left the Cougars (18-8) in a second-place tie with Cochise College instead of just one game behind Yavapai (21-5.)
“The thing that we lose is the chance to win the league,” Cougars coach Todd Eastin said. “Losing that game allowed the pack behind us to get a little bit closer.” More
April 3, 2008 - SMCC Baseball Update
By Jim Richards
Both No.17 Yavapai College (29-10-1) and honorable mention Cochise Community College (30-8-1) have drawn recognition in the most recent (April 2) NJCAA Top 20 rankings as SMCC (29-12) let a couple of good opportunites slip away over the past two weeks of ACCAC play that could have also brought the Cougars into the rankings for the first time this year.
But the Cougars can move up in more ways than one this Saturday when they’ll host Yavapai in a critical double-header beginning with a seven-inning game at noon followed by a nine-inning night-cap.
“We’re going to approach is just like any other series,” SMCC coach Todd Eastin said. “If we continue to pitch well, we’re going to win. If we kick the ball around, we won’t.”
More
March 31, 2008
South Mountain takes 2nd at John A. Logan Tournament
Marion, Illinois---The Men’s Golf Team traveled to Illinois this past weekend and finished 2nd place in a 12 team field (featuring 3 other teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation) only 5 shots off the pace of the host team John A. Logan College and 5 ahead of the next closest team Indian Hills CC. Sundays opening round was met with rain and thunder storms as the team arrived at Kokopelli Golf Club causing a 4 ½ hour delay to the start the day. After a long wait the Cougars showed that they belonged shooting a 306 opening round, just 3 behind JALC who has never lost their invitational at Kokopelli. SMCC was also the only team not to have a player shoot in the 80”s. “I told the team before the round that we need to put ourselves in position to win the tournament, and that is exactly what they did.” said Coach Harrington. More
March 25, 2008
Cougars Get Edged Out at Gateway In vitational
Phoenix, Arizona—After a promising first round lead, the Cougar men’s golf team comes back with a strong second day performance, matching their 2-under team total from day 1, leaving them 4-under for the tournament. However, Mesa CC and Scottsdale CC had the hot sticks on day 2 posting 9-under and 8-under respectively to edge out the Cougars. Sophomore Nic Banfield carded 69 the final day to lead South Mountain. Adam Winwood continued to ride his newly found confidence to a 2-under par final round 70, birdying 2 of his final 3 holes, which was good enough to put him in 2nd place individually at 5-under par for the tournament.
Other notable Cougars were Scott Brace 72-72-144, Nic Banfield 77-69-146, Keenan Holt 72-75-147, and Chace Nathe 73-75-148. Cougar Golf
March 24, 2008
Cougars Lead After 1st Round
Phoenix, Arizona--The Cougars run out to 1st round lead at the Gateway Invitational at Papago Golf Course by posting a 2-under 286 putting them 1-shot ahead of Scottsdale CC and 2-shots ahead of Mesa CC. Leading the way for SMCC is Freshman Adam Winwood carding an opening round 69 in his first college tournament. The Cougars played consistent all around with Scott Brace and Keenan Holt shooting even par 72, and Chace Nathe carding a 1-0ver 73. Cougar Golf
March 22, 2008 Basketball Tournament Final
By Jim Richards
We’re number seven!
Sure, the Cougars would have liked to come back to town closer to No.1, but after a disheartening tournament start, the SMCC men’s basketball team certainly showed that it belonged at the NJCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament.
The sophomore-laden Cougars wrapped up a wild and exciting 26-8 season with two wins in the tournament’s consolation round. Their 86-73 win over a solid Erie (NY) CC club Saturday night gave them seventh place in the 12-team tournament in Danville, Illinois.
“We wanted to prove something,” said SMCC coach Dan Nichols. “We were really energized when we went out there. We had talked about going out there and showing everyone what we were about.” More
March 21, 2008
Men's Golf Update
By Jim Richards
No.2--With a Bullet!
The SMCC men’s golf team doesn’t appear to have let up a bit despite the losses of several players off last year’s NJCAA Division II national runner-up squad and its head coach. First-year coach Jake Harrington has the Cougars ranked second in the nation (golfstat.com/ JUCO-Division II) with an exciting ACCAC race under way and another expected in 2009 with several elite high school golfers already committed. “We’re just building every year,” said Harrington, a former Cougar golfer. “We trying to stay in the top five in the nation every year.”
In four ACCAC tournaments thus far, the Cougars have a first place finish, a second and two thirds. The top feather in their caps thus far was the team victory at the Paradise Valley CC tournament March 4 at the Golf Club of Estrella, where the Cougars toppled even No.1-ranked (Division I) Scottsdale CC by five strokes behind Nic Banfield’s two-round score of 148 with teammates Cody Patterson (150) and Scott Brace (151) not far behind. More
March 9, 2008
Cougars to Nationals
As the only Division II team with a winning record in the ACCAC, the South Mountain Community College men's basketball team figured to capture the NJCAA Region I Division II Tournament.
Behind 34 points from Tyrone Kelley, 17 from B.J. Dotson and some clutch shooting out of freshman Chris Rizzo, the Cougars pulled out a tense 81-75 overtime victory over visiting Phoenix College in overtime. More
March 7, 2008
Men’s golf comes from 9-shots back to capture title at Paradise Valley Invitational
Goodyear, Arizona--- The South Mountain Community College Cougar men’s golf team continued conference play March 3rd-4th at the Golf Club of Estrella in the Paradise Valley Invitational. The Cougars played good golf in severely windy conditions Monday afternoon, however, only two of their 6 players were able to finish before dark fell over the course. This forced 4 of SMCC’s players to finish the opening round early in the morning before they competed in the final round Tuesday afternoon.
After Round 1 completed Tuesday morning, Chandler-Gilbert had a commanding lead at 298, followed by Scottsdale and Mesa at 306, and South Mountain at 307. Although the lead was big, South Mountain knew they had the potential and talent to overcome the gap even though they were trailing three strong colleges including Scottsdale Community College, last years NJCAA Division I National Champions. More
March 1, 2008
Basketball Update
By Jim Richards
The top prize is still out there, but the awards keep coming in for the SMCC men's basketball team.
One week before they'll will play for the right to go to the NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship Tournament, three Cougars were honored this week by the ACCAC.
In awards selected by the coaches of the ACCAC, head coach Dan Nichols picked up the ACCAC's Coach of the Year award while SMCC forward Dave Cuen was named to the conference's 1st Team and guard Tyrone Kelly to the 2nd team.
Nichols, in his sixth season at SMCC, guided the Cougars to a 16-6 conference record that was good for third place in the overall standings and a convincing eight-game bulge over Phoenix College in the ACCAC Div.II race. The Cougars also maxed out at No.8 in the NJCAA Div.II rankings. More
February 27, 2008
Baseball Update
By Jim Richards
SMCC baseball coach Todd Eastin isn't going to make like an NBA fan and scream "de-fense, de-fense" at his ballclub this year, but he's made it quite clear to all that the 2007 club's defense--or lack of it--was the main contributor to a subpar season that left the Cougars above only Eastern Arizona in the highly-competitive ACCAC Div.1 standings.
"We were terrible on defense last year." Eastin said of a club that went 27-29 overall and 14-24 in the ACCAC. "I think we blew 13 games last year when we had the lead in the eighth or ninth innings."
Eastin blamed his club's defense for many of the late collapses just as he's quick to praise the Cougars' defense during its current streak of 10 wins in 11 games (through Feb.27). More
5th Annual Cougar Golf Classic for
South Mountain Community College Baseball
*2005 Junior College World Series*
At
Ahwatukee Country Club
12432 S. 48th St.
Phoenix, AZ. 85044
*Shotgun start*
Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 1:00PM
Cost: $90 per player donation to SMCC Baseball
Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place
Green fees, cart, and dinner are included.
All participants will be recognized on 2008 SMCC Baseball website.
See attached entry form. Fee is due by March 1, 2008
It’s Another Gold Medal for SMCC!
Patricia Thornham’s 2007/2008 Athletics poster has received a first-place award in the 23rd Annual Admissions Advertising Awards, presented by Admissions Marketing Report.
Congratulations, Patricia, and special thanks to Travis May and all of our “models!”
February 22, 2008
SMCC Men's Basketball update
Kelley wins again
By Jim Richards
Good things happen to good people and good awards to go good players.
SMCC guard Tyrone Kelley notched his second ACCAC Div.II Player of the Week Award (for the week of Feb.17) after a magnificent week that included a career-high 41-point performance in a triple-overtime victory over Cochise College.
With his ability to get the foul line at crunch time --something he's done over and over again this season in helping the D-II Cougars (20-7, 14-5) to third place in the D-I dominated ACCAC--Kelley hit an astounding 26 of 30 foul shots in the amazing 119-114 win over Cochise, and nearly single-handedly kept the Cougars in the game before fouling out late in the third overtime. More
Feb 19, 2008
Men's Golf Update
RIO RICO, AZ – South Mountain’s Men’s Golf Team started conference play this past weekend at Rio Rico Resort, in the Pima Community College Invitational. The Cougars played steady golf both days battling windy conditions the first day firing 290 with a second place finish firing 290 the first day followed by the low team score the second day of 289 which was good enough to land them in 2nd place, 9 shots clear of Mesa Community College and just behind Scottsdale Community College. More
Feb 11, 2008
Men's update
By Jim Richards
For the second straight season, the Cougars' men's basketball team will host the four-team NJCAA Region I Division II Men's Basketball Tournament after clinching the ACCAC Division II regular-season title, the first building block on what they hope will be a landmark season.
The tournament will be held on March 4 and 6 at the South Mountain gymnasium. Four teams will be vying to capture the tournament title and the automatic bid to the NJCAA Division II Mens' Basketball Tournament in Danville, Ill. (that begins March 19) that goes with it.
The tournament will feature the top four Division II teams in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference. Currently, the Cougars are 13-4 overall in the ACCAC standings with five games remaining on the schedule. More
Jan 28, 2008
Volleyball Update
By Jim Richards
The SMCC volleyball provided a season's worth of excitement last season and the offseason already has fans looking forward to next fall. South Mountain volleyball coach Pat Mooney announced the names of his first five signees for the 2008-09 season.
They are Michele Anderson from Horizon, Madison Orton from Ironwood, Samantha King from Gilbert, Kayley Mundell from Pinnacle, and Charlea Hillman from Mountain Pointe.
Anderson, a 5-foot-6-inch libero, returned to Horizon after missing her junior season to have a baby, led Horizon to the Class 5A Division II quarterfinal round and was named as a 2007 All State Honorable Mention selection as well as a First Team All 5A Pima-II Region selection. Hillman, a 5-10 middle-hitter, was a member of a Pride team that reached the 5A-I state title game only to fall to Xavier Prep. She was named to the 5A Central-I Region's second team. More
Jan 27, 2008
ACCAC’s Player of the Week Award
By Jim Richards
For the second consecutive week, SMCC basketball teams have produced the ACCAC’s Player of the Week award.
Freshman Katie Johnson and sophomore Dave Cuen received the award this week. One week earlier, Ashley Sparks and Tyrone Kelley, both sophomores, picked up the award.
Johnson netted 12 points with 17 rebounds in SMCC’s first win of the season Saturday night, a 68-59 win at Glendale. She scored 19 points with 18 rebounds in a loss to Mesa earlier in the week. Johnson shared the award this week with Scottsdale’s Katie Clark.
Cuen scored 18 points with eight rebounds and more importantly had the game-winning tip in at the buzzer in a 66-65 win over Mesa Wednesday night. He followed that with 22 points and five rebounds in Saturday’s win at Glendale.
Jan 25, 2008
Cougar Women’s Golf Signs Four for the 2009 Season
Amanda Pacely, Amanda Ray, Jennifer Ricci, Amanda Gregg,
Higley HS Skyline HS Tolleson HS Arcadia HS
Jan 23, 2008
Players of the Week
By Jim Richards
One player is trying to lead her club to its first win of the season and the other is the stabilizing force of one of the top teams in the nation.
Together, SMCC’s Ashley Sparks and Tyrone Kelley gathered the school’s first ACCAC basketball players of the week awards last week (the week ending Jan.20).
Sparks, a sophomore out of Shadow Mountain, put together a mammoth week, first netting 18 points with 16 rebounds against Pima and then scoring 19 points with 15 rebounds in a narrow loss to ACCAC Div.II-leading Chandler-Gilbert.
Kelley, the go-to guy of the No.9-ranked Cougars who sat out four seasons after playing as a freshman at Eastern Arizona, poured in 26 points with six assists in a 92-89 upset loss at Pima and followed that with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists in an 81-59 victory over Chandler-Gilbert.
Jan 23, 2008
SMCC beats MCC
By Jim Richards
Dave Cuen’s tip in off a Freddie Franco missed lay up at the buzzer lifted No.9-ranked South Mountain Community College to a 66-65 victory over visiting Mesa Community College Wednesday night.
The victory pulled the Cougars into a third-place tie with Mesa at 8-3 in the overall race for the lead in the ACCAC, behind Arizona Western (10-1) and Eastern Arizona (9-2). Both teams also won Wednesday night.
The Cougars retained a four-game lead over Phoenix College (4-7) which defeated Scottsdale Wednesday night.
Mesa battled back from an 11-point, second-half deficit and took a 65-64 lead after Jessie Childs hit a pair of free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, Franco drove three-quarters of the court to the left side and missed a layup, but Cuen was there for the follow-up. Mesa players and coaches heavily disputed the call, claiming Cuen’s tip-in came well after the buzzer sounded.
The Cougars begin the second half of the ACCAC regular-season schedule Saturday night at Glendale.
Jan 14, 2008
1-12 SMCC beats Eastern
By Jim Richards
The race is on for the lead in the ACCAC and the Cougars are right in the thick of it.
In their first home game of what should be a thrilling post-holiday-season run, the No.9-ranked (Division II) Cougars posted their biggest victory of the season Saturday night, beating No.20 (Division I) Eastern Arizona, 66-60, handing the Gila Monsters their first conference loss of the season.
Eastern, along with Division I powers Arizona Western (No.17) and Mesa Community College, are all tied for the lead in the ACCAC with 7-1 records. The Cougars are one game back at 6-2 and, along with Mesa, are vying to become the first Maricopa County school to win the ACCAC in over a decade.
“We’ll have to beat one of those teams on the road if that were to happen,” SMCC coach Dan Nichols said. “I have a lot of confidence in these guys. They can beat anybody.” More
Jan 11, 2008
Basketball Update
By Jim Richards
SMCC lowered the boom on host Yavapai College Wednesday night, showing the Prescott area what the No.9 team in the nation looks like in a convincing 71-54 victory.
The Cougars led only 30-28 at the half, but broke open the game with a suffocating defense and some strong outside shooting with a couple of hot hands off the bench.
Chris Rizzo came off the bench to hit both 3-point attempts as did Tim Williams. SMCC coach Dan Nichols is hoping the strong outside shooting continues in Saturday night’s key ACCAC meeting with Division I No.20 Eastern Arizona (6-0 ACCAC), in a game that could determine SMCC’s overall conference title hopes. More
Jan 3, 2008
South Wins Tourney
By Jim Richards
Behind Tyrone Kelley’s clutch free-throw shooting, Roy Prieto’s hot hand from the outside and an explosive offense overall, the SMCC men’s basketball team captured the Scottsdale Community College/Day’s Inn Classic for the second consecutive year.
The No.11-ranked Cougars defeated perennial powers Eastern Utah, Monroe (NY) College and Snow (Utah) College in an exciting finale to capture the tournament, their last tournament until what will likely be a trip to the NJCAA Region I Division II tournament and, hopefully, a trip to the NJCAA Men’s Division II Basketball Championship Tournament in Danville, Ill.
“Anytime you’re beating those teams it’s good because they are good programs and (their players) are taught well,” SMCC coach Dan Nichols said. More
For previous stories, go to Sports New!