Cougars attempt to conquer woes Friday vs. Lane Titans Bowlers rolling ahead by Mark Borrelli Staff Writer_________________________ by Mark Borrelli Staff Writer___________________ ______ After getting off to a great league start, the Clackamas Cougars hit the road for two tough league games and came up empty in both contests. The first stop for Clackamas was Umpqua and a very tough league opponent. Clackamas fell behind 41-35 at halftime, battled back with strong defense, but lost the game 83-82. “We played better defense in the second half and we executed better,” Coach Royce Kiser noted. “Our team played hard, but Umpqua is a really good team.” Clackamas had a well spread I scoring attack, led by the 16 points from Todd Harris, Nate Pyatt also chipped in 16, Jeff Stein added 12, Trev Kiser 11, and Jeff Hoffman scored nine i points. For Umpqua, Donald Bolston led all scorers with 24 i points and Anthony Steward ad- |ded21. The Cougars, according to : Coach Kiser, played a good game, but “we were not quite as [ tough in the first half, we played a little more tough, physically, : in the second half.” Clackamas seemed to have things going in the right direction | on Friday when they traveled to ■ Southwestern Oregon State Com- I munity College (SWOCC). The ■ Cougars jumped out to a 36-35 ■ halftime lead, but were unable to ■ hold it as they got out scored I 39-31 in the second half, on their ■way to a 67-74 loss. “We really ■ got beat on the boards,” remark- ■ ed Coach Kiser, as his team got ■out rebounded 35-26. “The ■players were trying to play hard, ■but we could just never get going ■and put it away.” Once again the Cougars ■featured a balanced scoring at- ■ tack: Trev Kiser lead with 23 ■points, Jeff Hoffman added 13, ■Todd Harris scored 10, and Jeff Second place... Photo by Julio Church Where’s the ball? Jeff Hoffman(20) goes after a lost ball while teammate Nate Pyatt(44) energetically looks on. Stein connected for seven points. For SWOCC, Leon Thompson led all scorers with 24 points, while Lance Michel chipped in 11 to the winning cause. “We didn’t seem to be able to get the rebounds and pick up the loose balls like we had been do ing,” observed Kiser. Kiser feels that his team had a chance to win both of the games, but some bad breaks led to the losses. “In the game against Umpqua, we could have won, and we didn’t. In the game against SWOCC we should have won, but didn’t, put those two combinations together, and that’s bad.” The men will be back in ac tion this weekend, hosting Lane Friday, and traveling to Linn- Benton Saturday. Kiser feels that for his team to win there going to have to play better. “We’re going to have to play smarter, better defense, and better rebounding.” The 2-2 Cougars will have to battle to catch league leader,. Umpqua, but Kiser feels his team has the ability to do just that. “1 think we have a chance to win the league championship and get in to the playoffs again.” Kiser feels that a lack of height has hurt his team some. “We’re small, we probably get beat some down low.” But Kiser en courages you not to worry about Clackamas, “We will be back.” |Did you know that Clackamas Community College has a bowling team? If your answer is “no,” the right [answer is “yes.” Yes, Clackamas does have a bowling team and they are having a very good season to date. The bowlers’ season started the beginning of fall term and they got rolling along, finishing in second place behind Portland Community College and finishing ahead of league favorite OSU. “Oregon State was favored to win the first half title, but we bowled very well and finished second ahead of them,” noted coach Mick McMahon. The seven team bowling league holds their matches Thursdays at 2 p.m., with Clackamas’ home matches be ing held at Canby Bowl. Some of the top bowlers for Clackamas are Blaine Wen- inger, who is averaging over 200. “Blaine held the high average last year in the city of Portland,” said McMahon. Two other top bowlers for the squad are both averaging in the high 190’s. Richard Laurie has rolled two 300 games in league play so far this season. Joining him in the 190’s is Jim Lebak- ken. Coach McMahon hopes his team can continue their success in the second half of the season, but to make the; playoffs, Clackamas will have to be in first place at the end of the season. The biggest problem for the team now seems to be lack of people. A few of the top bowlers from last term are not on the team this term and McMahon feels that for his team to have a chance he must have some more team members. “We need some more people to come out and bowl with us. We lost a few players from last term and that could hurt us.” The team is open to anyone, you only have to be enrolled for one credit hour to be on the team and bowl in league play. Clackamas will hit the lanes this Thursday with a home match vs. Lower Columbia at Canby Bowl at 2 p.m. Ski Club ready for event by Mark Borrelli Staff Writer________________________ _ The Clackamas Ski Club is about ready to enter its first event of the year, when it takes part in the College Ski Ball, Jan. 25 at Mt. Hood Meadows. The Ski Club, led by advisor, Mark Essig, is anxiouslyawaiting the start of the its season. “We are a non-competitive group that likes to ski.” explains Essig. The Ski Club is a student organiza tion, not a sport. It is open to both students, as well a faculty, for an annual membership fee of $5. So far the Ski Club has 30 members, but Essig feels that that number will increase. The Ski Club mainly focuses on downhill, however, as Essig explains, George Warren spearheaded the cross country style widening the membership’s interest in all skiers. Last year’s Ski Club took part in 12 group trips, planned clear into July, extending the ski season into four or five months long. This year, Essig hopes that the Ski Club will be able to take place in as many, if riot more, events. After the College Ski Ball, the next Ski Club meeting will be March 30 in another College Ski Ball. Wrestlers West Helfrich and Sean Dolan practice intensely for an upcoming meet with North Idaho, the team CCC placed second to at last year’s National Championship.