SPORTS
THE PRINT
February 1,1989
Page 8
Dalton provides muscle for Cougars
by Luis Perez
Staff Writer
Phil Dalton rebounds with a
vengeance. The local warrior who
has brought his considerable bas­
ketball talent to Clackamas loves
rebounding over any other facet
of the game, as evidenced by his
average 9.2 rebounds per game
this season.
Rebounds are an important
ingredient for a winning basket­
ball team and collecting rebounds
is Dalton’s biggest strength. “I like
to be a rebounder and bang people
around,” he said.
Clackamas’ Head Coach
Royce Kiser elaborated on the
subject. “I think Phil is getting
good at rebounding. He’s going to
keep getting better every year,”
Kiser feels. “The main thing about
Phil is that he plays hard in prac­
tice every day...that’s why he’s so
good, because he works hard ev­
ery day. I like his attitude.”
Dalton explained that attitude,
stating that, “I don’t believe in
coming out and giving only 50
percent. You’ve got to go out and
play hard-nosed.”
Rebounding aside, Dalton has
also taken to scoring as of late,
registering his season high of 36
points at Southwestern Oregon
Community College. “I’ll take the
points when they’re there, but I
prefer the rebounds,” he confided.
Dalton’s basketball career
began at Oregon City High School
where he played in his share of big
games. Early on Jim Warden, the
coach of the sophomore team, took
an interest in him and convinced
him that he had what it takes to be
successful at basketball.
Because of an' injured ankle
Dalton didn’t go out for basket­
ball until halfway through his
sophomore season.
“I didn’t know what I wanted
to do, but Coach Warden took me
aside and told me that I could be a
good basketball player,” Dalton
remarked.
By the end of his first season
of organized basketball Dalton was
promoted to the J.V. team. By his
junior year he was starting on the
varsity. That season he averaged
14 points and'11 rebounds per
game, while setting the school
single season record for blocked
shots with 87 in 20 games. He is
currently Oregon City’s all-time
leader in that category.
A two sport athlete in high
school, Dalton played football for
the perennially powerful pioneers.
Already six foot six and 230 pounds
he fit right into the starting lineup
at offensive tackle and defensive
end. He was a little overweight for
basketball, however, and didn’t get
into what he calls “basketball
shape” until midway through his
senior year.
The 1987-88 season was a
unique one in which Oregon City’s
men’s and Women’s basketball
teams were briefly ranked num­
ber one in the state simultane­
ously. That season ended in the
state tournament with a loss to
South Salem and it was, for Dal­
ton, a bittersweet experience.
The game against South Sa­
lem was one the Pioneers should
have won. Dalton played brilliantly,
outplaying South Salem’s star, the
6-10 all state selection John Fish.
The Pioneers, whose strong
free throw shooting had taken them
to the state tournament, missed
the front end of three one and one
opportunities in the final 27 sec­
onds.
“We were 27 seconds away
from the final four,” he said rue­
fully.
The experience has served him
well in his transition to college
play. “The competition at the post
position isn’t much tougher than
in high school...Nate (Pyatt) is the
best post player I’ve played against,
and he’s on the same team,” he
said.
Dalton has noticed a differ­
ence in the level of competition at
the guard position, remarking that
“they’re a lot quicker than the
guards in high school.”
So far Dalton has enjoyed
being a member of the Cougar
basketball team.
“I like my teammates. I get
along with everybody...the trip to
Hawaii really brought us together.
As a whole it’s as good of a team as
I’ve been on,” he said. “I want us
to go as far as we can in the play­
offs. If we play as a team we can
beat everybody.”
Phil Dalton is not just a bas­
ketball player. His first priority in
life is obtaining a quality educa­
tion. A criminal justice major with
no definite career plans, he hopes
to graduate from a four year schooL
“I just want to get an educa­
tion,” he said. “The education
comes first.”
One difference between the
college and high school game that
Dalton has noticed is the coach­
ing. He has found Coach Kiser to
be far more intense than the
coaches he encountered in high
school. He credits Kiser for im­
proving his conditioning.
“Now I can play a whole half
without breathing hard,” he said.
One thing Dalton has found
disappointing about sports in
college is the lack of fan support
at Cougar home games. “After a
loss we hear people around cam­
pus talking about us losing when
they weren’t even there,” he said.
“We’re out there busting our asses
and it sounds like there’s a bunch
of corpses in the stands. We go
down to Umpqua and they have
five to six hundred people at the
games, and a pep band. It reallv
pisses me off.”
Did you know
we now have
Belgian
Waffles?
inches
L*
a*
b*
A
D50 Illuminant, 2 degree observer
Photo by Julie Chureh
Clackamas strong man Phil Dalton has proven to be a valuable
inside force so far in his freshman season. His tenacious
aggressive play has made him a force to be reckoned with.
Turnover problems
plaguing Cougars
by Mark A. Borrelli
Sports Editor
Turnovers are one of the rea­
sons that the Clackamas men’s
basketball team has been strug­
gling. The Cougars have dropped
their last two league games, and in
those games have averaged over
20 turnovers.
The Cougars have let their
league record drop to 3-5, putting
them in fifth place in the confer­
ence. They need to improve in a
hurry as only the top four teams in
the league make the playoffs.
“We are committing far too
many turnovers. We have been
averaging over 20 per game, and
by this time of the season we should
at 10 or 15,” said Coach Royce
Kiser.
The losing streak got started
last Wednesday, with a hard fought
loss from Chemeketa. The game
was overshadowed by the fight in
the stands, but it was a very good
game on the court up until the last
37 seconds.
Both teams were back and
forth the first half. Chemeketa
would forge out to a big lead, and
Clackamas would gear down, play
tough defense and get back into
the game. The Cougars clawed
their way to within two points at
half time.
Clackamas came out storm-
ing in the second half and built as
much as a seven point lead before
letting the Chiefs back in the
contest with unmotivated play. The
game was nip and tuck down the
stretch, but unforced Clackamas
errors made the difference, and
Chemeketa went on to post a 74-
65 win.
Trev Kiser lead all Clacka­
mas scorers with 21 points. Phil
Dalton chipped in 18 points and
10 rebounds, and Jeff Hoffman, in
his first game back since his in­
jury, tallied 13 points and 12 boards.
Sloppiness was the name of
the game for the Cougars, as they
let another game they should have
won get away. Linn-Benton, a team
that Clackamas should be able to
beat, took advantage of Cougar
errors to post a 91-85 victory.
Trev Kiser lead the Cougars
again with 21 points. Jeff Hoffman,
and Phil Dalton each added 16
points and 10 rebounds, and Tim
Osburn chipped in 9 points in the
losing cause.
The Cougars will try to get
back in the win column tonight, as
they travel to Portland Commu­
nity College for an 8 p.m. contest.
Their next home game will be
Saturday against Lane Commu­
nity College.