The Clackamas Print Page 5
Wednesday, Jan. 18,1995
SPORTS
Cougars win with Williams MVP performance
by Jesse Sowa
Sports Writer
The Clackamas Community
College Men’s Basketball Team
held off a late run by Lower Co
lumbia College to win the cham
pionship game of the Cougar In
vitational 85-77.
The Cougars also defeated
Blue Mountain and Green River
on their way to taking first place
in the tournament that they hosted
December 27-29 at Randall Hall.
Clackamas sophomore Nate
Williams was named Most Valu
able Player of the tournament.
Players receiving all-tournament
status were Marc Nipp (South
western Oregon CC), Todd
Kennedy (Green River CC), Jus
tin Henry (Big Bend), Gabe
Matthews (Lower Columbia Col
lege) and Jay Moore (Clackamas).
Clackamas began tourna
ment play with a 111-76 victory
over the Blue Mountain
Timberwolves on Dec. 27.
Both teams struggled with
their shooting in the first half, but
the Cougars overcame their op
ponents trapping defense in the
second stanza to out score their
opponents 69-36 for the win.
Clackamas led 17-8 over
Blue Mountain when Moore hit
Williams for a 12-foot jumper at
the 14:25 mark in the first half.
The Timberwolves got back in the
game and kept the score close by
causing many Cougar turnovers
with their half-court trap. Blue
Mountain took their first lead at
25-23 when Jay Wolcott nailed a
three-pointer at the 9:05 mark.
The Cougars led by six with
a minute to go in the half, but they
let their opponents get two quick
baskets to put the score at 42-40
at the break.
Clackamas came out firing in
the second half. Matt Stahl hit Jay
Moore for a lay-up, to give the
Cougars a 62-47 lead with just
under 15 minutes to go in the
game.
Blue Mountain never chal
lenged after that point, as the
Cougars rolled to the easy home
victory.
“We didn’t dribble to the
right side into the trap,” said
Clackamas Head Coach Royce
Kiser of his team’s play in the sec
ond half. “We rotated the ball and
we had patience enough to rotate
it and we shot a good shot.”
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Kiser pointed to the fact that
Clackamas gained the victory by
playing better defense in the sec
ond half and not committing
many turnovers.
“The bright spot is that I can
think we’re not playing very good,
and I can look up and we have
110 points, so we must be doing
something right. I think we’re
getting better all the time.”
Kiser Quote:
when the Gators started getting
some fast breaks off of steals.
Green River scored seven con
secutive points to close within one
at 60-59 before Williams canned
a three to put Clackamas up by
four with 9:55 remaining. The
Gators would get no closer than
that down the stretch.
Photo by Chad Patteson
"The bright spot Is that I can think we're not playing
very good and I can look up and we have 110 points."
Kiser believes that his players do
make some bad decisions some
times, but if they correct those
decisions and play better defense,
they could be a very tough team.
Although the Cougars out
rebounded the Timberwolves 59-
40, Kiser sees this as an area that
his team must still focus on.
Nate Williams led Clacka
mas with 34 points, including 5
of 7 on three-point shots and 9 of
9 free throws. Williams added
seven rebounds and seven assists.
Stahl added 20 points and eight
rebounds. Moore dished out nine
assists.
Clackamas held off Green
River Community College in a
second-round match-up of two
high-quality teams. Timely free
throws by Williams and postman
Ryan Valley at the end of the game
allowed the Cougars to slip away
with the 89-82 win.
Clackamas led by as many as
eighteen points in the first half,
but they were unable to hold that
lofty cushion as the Gators found
themselves down by only 10 at
halftime.
The Cougars turn the ball
over 25 times, compared to nine
turnovers for the Gators. This al
lowed Green River to stay in the
game which Clackamas should
have actually won easily.
Stahl drove to the hoop on a
slicing drive that gave the Cou
gars a 17-7 lead early in the game.
Freshman Aaron Pierson hit a
three-pointer from the comer to
put Clackamas up 28-15 with
eight minutes remaining in the
half. Williams drove the lane for
two easy baskets for a 37-19 Cou
gars lead.
Green River then went on a
10-0 run and held Clackamas
scoreless before Pierson hit a long
jumper to put the Cougars on top
at halftime, 39-29.
Stahl found Moore for a lay
in that gave Clackamas a 42-32
lead early in the second half.-The
Cougars held that margin until
nearly midway through the half
With under four minutes to go,
Green River began fouling in or
der to get the ball back. Moore hit
two free throws, giving the Cou
gars a 75-68 lead. Pierson sank
both of his free throws with un
der two minutes left, leaving
Clackamas ahead 79-72.
Valley hit three of his four
shots from the line in the final
minute, to put the Cougars out of
reach.
Brian Brutke came in for
Clackamas and played some qual
ity minutes when some of his
teammates were struggling.
Brutke finished with five points,
including a three-pointer late that
helped the Cougars maintain their
slim lead.
“They pressed us, and it
showed we need to work against
the press,” Kiser said of his team’s
struggle against Green River’s
press. “I was real happy that we
held on and we played OK.”
Kiser also heaped some
praise on Moore. “Jay Moore is a
big play maker. He’s going to
make the shots. Jay Moore played
really well.” Although he was
happy with the way Moore played,
Kiser believes Moore will have to
handle the ball better.
Lower Columbia reached the
championship game to face
Clackamas after the Red Devils
pounded Southwestern Oregon
104-84 in the semifinals. Lower
Columbia was led by Jeremy
Wood who shot for 20 points and
grabbed 7 rebounds. The Red
Devils also had five other players
score in double figures.
In what seemed to be normal
for the Cougars during the first
half of each tournament game,
their match-up with Lower Co
lumbia was nip and tuck through
out the first twenty minutes.
Moore completed a three-
point play after a drive to the
hoop, to give the Cougars an early
10-6 lead. The Red Devils then
went on a 12-4 run over a two-
minute period, to take the lead at
18-14 in what turned out to be
Clackamas’ largest deficit in the
tournament.
Pierson hit center Jay Lassen
in the key to put the Cougars back
on top at 28-26 with four minutes
left in the half. Stahl found Will
iams in the comer for three to give
Clackamas a 38-36 advantage at
the break.
Lower Columbia came out
strong in the second half and
pulled within two at 42-40 after
just three minutes had run off the
clock. Clackamas broke away
from the Red Devils with an 11-4
scoring run which included
Moore and Pierson hitting Valley
for easy baskets under the hoop.
Moore added two jumpers of his
own, and Stahl sank a foul shot
to give the Cougars a 53-44 lead
with 13 minutes to play.
Clackamas held a command
ing lead until the six-minute
mark, at which point Lower Co
lumbia worked their press to per
fection and got some quick bas
kets off of steals. The Red Devils
closed to within four at 69-65,
after a steal and a lay-in by
Michael Quinney with 4:49 re
maining.
Following trips to the free
throw line by Stahl and Moore,
the Cougars held the lead at 72-
65. But the visitors wasted no time
getting back in it, scoring five
consecutive points ending with a
drive and a bucket by former Or
egon City High School star and
Milwaukee native Jeff Mellema.
Clackamas was only up by
two with under a minute to go
before Williams saved the day
with a long three-pointer to put
the Cougars ahead 80-75. Will
iams also added two free throws,
and Valley put in three of four foul
shots for the final margin, 85-77.
Williams finished with 29
points and six assists. He also hit
six of seven shots from behind the
three-point line. Jay Moore added
18 points and eight rebounds.
Ryan Valley contributed 16 points
and grabbed eight rebounds.
Despite what Kiser describes
as a lack of focus and intensity by
his team earlier in the year, he
sees his players progressing in the
direction that he wants them to.
When asked about the im
portance of his team’s win in the
championship game, Kiser re
sponded, “It really, really helps
because that (Lower Columbia) is
a good ball club and it shows
that we can play. Anytime you
win, it’s better than a loss going
into league play. We’re starting to
play to win, instead of play to
play.”
Kiser had a lot of positive
things to say about his point
guard, Williams. “ He (Williams)
was definitely the most valuable
player in the tournament. His
clutch performance down the
stretch was good.”
After a fine performance at
the Cougar Invitational, Kiser
sees a lot of promise in the rest of
the season. After beating Lower
Columbia, a team that he consid
ers one of the top two in the
Northwest, Kiser has all the rea
sons to expect a lot from his team
when conference play begins.