10 • T he C lackamas P rint
F ebruary II, 2004
Men's Basketball taking it one day at a time
Frank Jordan
T he C lackamas P rint
AMY CASHMAN C lackamas P rint
Ammon Bemins (25) goes after a loose ball during a
83-74 Cougar loss to Chemeketa on Feb. 4.
JNWAACC
I Tournament
Clackamas men’s basketball split
two games last week, with a loss to
Chemeketa at home that snapped a
six-game win streak and put a seri
ous damper on the Cougars’
chances of winning a division title
with five games left in die regular
season.
The Cougars (16-6, 7-3) faced a
tough Chemeketa team on Feb. 4
that was tied with Clackamas for sec
ond in the NWAACC Southern
Division heading into die game.
Clackamas got a great shooting per
formance from Garrett Johnson to
send the Cougars into the halftime
break with a 33-32 lead. Johnson hit
7-9 from the floor in the opening 20
minutes, scoring 18 points in the
half.
The Cougars and the Strom
went back and forth in the second
half, with neither team leading by
more than five points, until the end
of the game. Momentum changed
for good in Chemeketa’s favor with
three minutes left when the Cougars
missed a putback at the offensive
end that would have given them a
late lead, then a Chemeketa player
banked in a wild three-point attempt
at the shot dock buzzer to give the
Storm a four-point lead. Clackamas
never recovered and Chemeketa
went on to win 83-74.
Johnson led die Cougars with 22
points. He also had seven rebounds
and three blocked shots. Alex
Swerzbin had 18 points, a game-high
11 assists and four steals. The
Cougars shot a cold 40 percent from
the floor and only 27 percent from
beyond the three-point line.
Chemeketa also pounded the
Cougars on the glass by a 50-29
rebounding margin.
“Two big factors in the
Chemeketa game killed us,” said
Head Coach Clif Wegner “Our
rebounding was atrocious and we
just shot poorly. Chemeketa was
really tough and they just plain beat
us.”
The Cougars traveled to Coos
Bay on Feb. 7 and defeated a tough
Southwestern Oregon CC squad by
a score of 74-70. Clackamas got
behind early by a 17-3 count, before
using tough, pressure defense to
jump to a 37-28 halftime lead. The
lead basically stayed around 6-8
points throughout the second half
before the Cougars held on for the
four-point win.
Johnson led the Cougars with 16
Blazer beef drives sports editor to throw bones
Nic Delzell
S ports E ditor
The Clackamas
Athjtlc
Department has
tickets available
for the NWAACC
Basketball
Championships
from Feb. 27 to
Mar. 1 at the TrA
Cities Coliseum in
Kennewick, Wash. J
Cost is $31. For
info or to purchase
tickets, contact
Athletffldirectort'
jim Jackson at
ext. 2295 or;
Athletic Secretary
Dotty Coburn at
ext. 2291.
points and grabbed six rebounds.
Wes Jensen had 15 points and led
Clackamas with nine boards.
Brandon Gill had 12 points and four
steals.
“Saturday was a huge win on the
road for us and the result guaranteed
a playoff spot for us,” said Wegner.
“SWOCC is always a tough gym to
win in, but the kids kept their poise
down the stretch and we got an
important win.”
Tonight, the Cougars take a short
ride to Portland CC to take on the
Panthers in a 7:30 p.m. tip on the
PCC-Sylvania campus. Saturday,
Clackamas will play its final home
game of the season when the
Cougars play Linn-Benton CC in a 6
p.m. game in the Randall Hall gym.
Clackamas will be honoring its soph
omores and their parents before the
game as they play their final home
game for CCG
‘We are focusing on one day, one
practice, one game at a time The
NWAACC tournament at this point
is a distant thought. We still have
players banged up and are trying to
get everyone healthy,” said Wegner
“Unfortunately, we can’t rest players
because we have too many big
games left as we fight for playoff
positioning.”
This week, I’m going to drop it
like it’s hot and hit my readers with
a matter that is near and dear to
my heart, my beloved Pordand
Trail Blazers and their “fans.”
As a devoted Blazer disciple, I
make my way to at least half of
the home games each year.
Recently I have not been
impressed with- the behavior and
attitude of certain so-called “fans”
that are attending games.
Most recendy, I attended the
Blazers vs. the Sonics on Feb. 8. It
was an excellent game with the
Blazers winning 95-85. Most
everyone, I noticed, enjoyed the
game. The Blazers controlled the
tempo for the entire game and the
vibe in the arena was one of con
fidence and delight.
Then former Oregon Duck
Luke Ridnour was put into the
game. This is when I noticed cer
tain “fans,” getting ready to roar.
Ridnour is a great player. The Rose
Garden erupted when Ridnour
entered the game.
What I didn’t understand is why
the backup point guard for the
opposing team received more praise
than any Blazer when he entered the
game. I truly enjoyed watching Rid
during his years at Oregon.
I don’t agree with calling
Ridnour’s first game at the Rose
Garden a homecoming. Ridnour
is from Washington. I don’t agree
with these “fans” going into rap
tures over Rid.
In addition to the Ridnour inci
dent, I want to bring up the Jan. 31
game against the Chicago Bulls.
Once again during team introduc
tions, former Blazer Scottie
Pippen received a larger welcom
ing than any Blazer did. And dur
ing the game several self-styled
Blazer “fans” had one positive
thing after another to say about
the aging Pip. While most of these
comments towards thè Pordand
players were jokes about marijua
na, these “fans” are haters, haters,
haters and more haters on top
with some hater juice to drink.
Pippen is not a Blazer; he
played three lackluster, injury-
filled seasons with P-town. He was
clutch at times, but he will enter
the NBA Hall of Fame as a Bull.
Chi-town is Pippen’s home. Let
the Bulls’ fans holler at Pippen.
Next, I would like to bring up
one of the best nights in Blazer
history, the return of Blazer leg
end Terry Porter on Dec. 16.
Porter now coaches the Milwaukee
Bucks and came to town and beat
the Blazers 106-99. Porter received
a muchzdeserved standing ovation
during his introduction. This is
one time I agree with rooting for
the enemy.
Porter still hangs on my bed
room wall and always will be one
of my favorite Blazers. But
because the Blazers’ front office
cares more about cash money than
the team, the ticket read: Terry
Porter’s Milwaukee Bucks vs. The
Pordand Trail Blazers.
What the fizzele was that
about? The front office is trying to
propagate the fans into rooting for
Porter, taking the focus off the
real issue, a blazer W
What I’m getting at here is the
fact that Blazer “fans” live for the
moment. Blazers “fans” are
spoiled with 20-plus consecutive
playoff trips. Blazer “fans” get
caught up in hype and can’t even
really be called fans.
Don’t go to Blazer games to
root for the enemy unless the
enemy happens to be your team
and you are a real fan. And then be
prepared to see a loud sports edi
tor with his Blazer gear and a big
smile who’s ready to throw some
bones at any Blazer hater.
.As for Feb. 9 trade I say,
BRING BACK SHEEDdang it.
Gone.
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