Mesa Legend - News - Thunderbirds tip-off at preseason tourneys

Thunderbirds tip-off at preseason tourneys

Josh Flores
Mesa Legend

Though it is still early in the fall season MCC was able to get their first look at the Men’s Thunderbirds basketball team on Saturday, Oct. 7. The Thunderbirds took on Central Arizona Vaqueros and the Phoenix Bears at the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) Basketball Jamboree held at Scottsdale Community College.

The Thunderbirds are coming off a 21-9 record from the 2005-2006 season and looked very impressive in defeating the Vaqueros by the final score of 59-47.
The leading scorer of this game for Mesa was Forward, Braylon Pickerel, with 12 points. Other leading scorers were guards, John Pena, with 9 points, and Adam McCoy, with 8 points.

Head Coach Alton Lister said after the game, “For a showcase, it wasn’t bad, we still are looking at chemistry and combinations and just trying to see how we look.”
Lister added, “We have been playing against each other for the last month, so we are going against some other bodies now.”

The team chemistry was there at times, but did struggle at certain points during the scrimmage.

Coach Lister said, “We did some good things and we did some things that we still need to work on, so that kind of shows where we are at right now.”

While the offense was impressive in being a scoring powerhouse, the defense did struggle a bit in the second half. Lister stated “We need to work on continuity and execution and work on defensive rotations”.

The teamwork was there but did not look like it at times, as many members of the team were still getting used to playing together.

Lister added “We got a lot of new faces and we still got a long way to go.”

With positive signs exhibited in the preseason the Thunderbirds appear to be a favorite to contend for an ACCAC title this season. Standing in their way will be, among others, a very tough Cochise Apaches team.

You can see the Men’s Thunderbird basketball team in their regular season home opener on Nov. 27 against Grand Canyon College at 7:30 p.m..

With the slated regular season start still over a month away, the Mesa women’s basketball staff was also fortunate enough to get a good look at their team as Mesa Community College hosted a preason tip-off at Theo Heap Gynasium on Oct. 7.

The women began their day with a matchup against South Mountain Community College and then played in the afternoon against Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

The Lady Thunderbirds, figure to be among the contenders for a top spot in the ACCAC this season. The MCC women finished with a record of 17-13 last season. They begin conference play Nov. 29 at Scottsdale Community College.