Sports 7
Clackamas Print_____________ F.t, .4, M„7
Cougars clinch Southern
Mike Guldlce
Sports Editor
Elizabeth Hitz Clackamas Print
bint guard JR Morgan attacks the rim as he goes in
or a contested layup vs. Southwestern Oregon CC on
Saturday. Morgan had 12 points in 12 minutes of play.
After a week that saw them defeat
both Mt. Hood CC and Southwestern
Oregon CC, the polls awarded
Clackamas on Monday, anointing
them as the number one team in the
NWAACC.
Last Wednesday, the Cougars
played at Mt Hood, beating them by
a final score of86-79. In a close game,
David Cemin simply put the team on
his back in the second half, as he led all
players with 34 points. Cemin also had
eight boards and seven dimes.
“Cemin had a sensational second
half; he finished inside, got to the free-
throw line, shot from deep ... he really
saved us,” Coach Clif Wegner said of
his sophomore guard.
Other clutch contributions included
Maurice Ross’ 10 assists and five free-
throws in crunch time to seal the win.
The versatile Steven Vaughan added 15
points and 10 rebounds. Brian Freeman
had his usual dominant game inside,
registering yet another double-double
with 14 points and 15 boards.
Clackamas was victorious despite
a valiant effort from Hood, getting
a hard-fought victory in a pressure-
packed situation.
“It was a tough ballgame; they’re a
tough team and came ready to play,”
Wegner added.
Saturday, the team returned home
to play Southwestern Oregon CC in
what was expected to be another tough
battle. It wasn’t as close as initially
expected as Clackamas routed their
opponent by a score of 108-85.
Despite a sizeable height disadvan
tage, the Cougs were able to complete
ly dominate SWOCC on the boards,
finishing with a season-high 64. Once
again, big man Freeman had a stellar
performance, scoring 25 points and rip
ping down 21 rebounds.
“Brian was a man inside; it seemed
like he got every defensive rebound,”
Coach Wegner said.
Going into the contest, the team
knew that their opponent was suscep
tible to giving up rebounds, especially
on the offensive end, so Clackamas
capitalized like only a great team can.
Headlining along with Freeman
was fellow big man Vaughan, who
finished the game with 27 points and
10 boards.
The victory assured Clackamas the
Southern Region title and the number
one seed going into the NWAACC
tournament next month.
Tonight, the Cougars travel to
Salem to take on rival Chemeketa CC,
where they look to add to their momen
tum and keep the winning streak alive.
After that, they finish the regular season
against the cellar-dwellers of the league
with games vs. Lane (at home on
Saturday at 6 p.m.) and at Portland CC
on die 21st
The significance of wrapping up the >
conference and securing the number
one seed early is not lost on Coach
Wegner.
“We’re in a nice position entering
the last couple games. We’ve taken care
of business and can rest some players
and start focusing and preparing for the
tournament”
Women use stingy D, clutch shooting to win
Saints to 26 percent shooting in CCC’s 49-34
victory.
“It was probably our best defensive perfor
mance of the season,” said Head Coach Jim
The Clackamas women’s basketball team Martineau ‘We forced Mt Hood to run down
sed solid defense and timely shooting to defeat the shot clock on almost every possession, and
HL Hood CC and Southwestern Oregon CC in forced them to either take a poor shot or we came
up with a turnover. All of the girls did a great job
heir games last week.
Last Wednesday in Gresham, Mt Hood used on defense during the game.”
Vanessa Schmitz set the tone early, scoring
I slow, methodical offense to try to slow down
14 of her 16 points in the first half to lead the
le Cougars, and their strategy backfired as
hckamas forced 28 turnovers and held the Cougars. Schmitz also grabbed seven rebounds,
dished out four assists
and had three steals.
Kellyn Cooper backed
Schmitz with 14 points
and a team-high 12
rebounds.
Clackamas only shot
30 percent for the game,
including only 3-19
from three-point range,
and were out-rebound
ed 49-42 by the Saints.
Mt Hood was led by
"The materials and
Sammie Nordstrom,
exercises have immediate
who had 14 points and
applicationand the
14 boards.
discussions help put those
Saturday,Clackamas
principles into practice." •
hosted the last-place
Southwestern Oregon
Matthew Conser
Lady Lakers and the
Vice President, Conser
Cougars sent their
Design and Construction
Frank Jordan
The Clackamas Print
iegin with the end in mind
sps.georgefox.edu • 888-888-0178
Degree completion programs
for working adults
7
Information meetings
06:30 p.m.
Feb. 15, March 15
George Fox University
Salem Center
2600 Pringle Rd. S.E., Salem
G eorge F ox
SCHOOL OF
PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
a matter of mind
and spirit
opponent back to Coos Bay with a lopsided 84-
28 loss.
Sarah Lindley shot 10-17 from the floor
enroute to a game-high 22 points, while Rachel
Copeland followed with 21 points, including five
first-half threes, when the Cougars jumped out to
a 46-12 halftime cushion. Cooper had 16 points
on 7-17 shooting, and Schmitz had 10 points.
Cooper and Schmitz each grabbed 11 rebounds
to pace tiie Cougars off the glass.
Clackamas forced 36 turnovers, including 23
steals, and held SWOCC to 22 percent shooting.
Amelia Johnson led the Lady Lakers with 11
points as SWOCC fell to 0-11 in lhe division and
I- 21 overall.
“SWOCC is not very good, and we did a
pretty good job of not embarrassing them,” said
Martineau. ‘We played very well defensively
and shot the ball pretty well. Sarah, Rachel and
Kellyn all shot well, especially Rachel in the first
half (5-6 on three-pointers). All-in-all, it was a
nice night”
A big week awaits the Cougars as they take
on third-place Chemeketa CC in Salem tonight
at 5:30 p.m. The Cougars are all alone in second
place in the Southern Division standings at 9-2,
while the Lady Chiefe are 8-3.
Saturday, Clackamas will host first-place Lane
CC in the final home game of the season. Lane is
II- 0 ill the division, and a victory over the Lady
Titans would give the Cougars momentum head
ing into the NWAACC tournament, March 1
through 4, in Kennewick, Wash
Wrestling Results:
Six Clackamas wrestlers qualified for the National JUCO Athletic
Association National Championship Tournament on Feb. 23 and 24 in
Rochester, Minn. The Cougars placed third as a team in the NJCAA
Region 18 tournament held last weekend in Yakima, Wash
The following individuals qualified for nationals:
• Brian Jacob (125) took third in his weight class.
• Detrick Bartiemay (141) took third in lus weight class.
• Sam Schmitz (149) is the Region Champion for his
division.
• Seth Roy (157) took third in his weight class.
• Alex Bubb (165) took third in his weight class.
• John Bates (HWT) is the Region Champion for his
division.
Also competing and placing at the regional tournament was Shane
Rhoden, who took fifth place at 133 pounds., Luis Cisneros, who was fifth
at 174 pounds., and Jim Halicki, who finished fourth at 197 pounds.
Mike Giudice
Sports Editor
TheGood:
The Blazers have already sur
passed their win total from last sea
son, and it’s not even the All-Star
break yet! The team is showing
steady improvement almost every
game and is developing nicely.
Brandon Roy has continued his
campaign for Rookie of the Year,
consistently hitting shots in the
clutch, while LaMarcus Aldridge is
really beginning to assert himself in
the post Here’s to hoping the Blazers
can move Jamaal Mcgloire, in turn,
opening up more PT for Aldridge.
Seigio Rodriguez, the team’s
young foreign flavor at point guard,
also has been a very pleasant sur
prise. Once he returns from his inju
ry after the All-Star break, he should
be given all the backup minutes at
guard behind lhe incumbent team
catalyst J Jack.
The Bad:
Citing a “dysfunctional situa
tion,”the Chargers, on Monday, fired
Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer.
Schottenheimer was given the boot
despite having led the team to an
NFL best record of 14-2.
I’m sorry, are you kidding me?
I don’t care how tense things got
between Marty and the manage
ment; how can you release a coach
after he completely turned lhe team
around? Sure, they came up short in
tire playofls, but they were playing
the postseason-savvy Patriots after
all, and Tom Brady isn’t exactly a
slouch. If the Chargers underachieve
next year, look out San Diego; there
may be a mutiny.
In college basketball, the Ducks
choked in the second half and lost
to Arizona on Saturday. I am tired
of seeing them get pounded inside
by almost everyone. The Ducks can
stroke it from long range all game,
but ifthe team continues to get domi-
nated in the post, giving up countless
rebounds and second chance points
to their opposition, they will inevi
tably foil.
Memo to Ernie Kent: RECRUIT
A BIG MAN! Ray Schafer and
Joevan Catron just aren’t cutting
it In fact, I’d almost rather deal
with Ivan “the terrible” Johnson and
Ian Crosswhite. Never did I think I
would long for the days of Robert
Johnson and Chris Christoffersen.
Seriously, it’s that bad.
The Ugly:
The bitter beer face that Gilbert
Arenas could be seen making on lhe
bench as the Blazers put a whoop
ing on his team, holding him to
nine points in the process. This was
made even worse by lhe feet that
Arenas had been promising to drop
50 on the Blazers ever since he was
left off lhe USA Olympic squad.
Arenas’ beef was directed at Blazers
Head Coach Nate McMillan, who
is part of the USA team’s coach
ing staff Arenas took it personally
and felt that he needed to exact
some revenge on the McMillan-led
Blazers, attempting to prove every
one wrong for not including him on
the American roster.
Word of advice, Gil: Next time
you plan cm dropping half a hundred
on someone, you should keep it to
yourself No one likes to bear such
proclamations made against their
team. It’s interpreted as a blatant sign
of disrespect
Other unattractive things worth
noting include: The Pro Bowl, and
Drew Brees’nasty, dislocated elbow
that he sustained during it I under
stand the allure of Hawaii, but the
Pro Bowl itself a joke, something
similar to Scott Pollard on the cover
of 60.