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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 2012)
(S The Clackamas Print NWAACC transfers may be one hit wonders Wednesday; Feb. 8j/2pi,2- spor„tsed@clackamas. edu Sports Anderson leads Clackamas charge By John William Howard Sports E ditor Every year around this time, the sports world is in pan demonium. With the Super Bowl finished,the NBA season . in full swing, and March Madness getting closer, there is one day that all the focus is on the high schools. That day i s , February first, the day that athletes can sign a national letter of intent. Its something that grabs the attention o f eveiyone. Fans all over the country watch co see who goes where, as often one big name can not only turn a program around, but can also bolster a fen base. * The NWAACC is a little different. Because its a two- year league, the turnover rare is high enough that it can be difficult to get ‘diehard’ fens. Teams can lose more than half o f their lineup from year to year, meaning that fens can’t follow a player for long .before they move on to a different school. Adding to that system is the feet that there are a high numbei of players that transfer into the league from a four- year university. Many o f the NWAACC’s players have come from other schools after playing for one year. For example, Clackamas’ own Taylor Dunn and Brett Ball transferred to Clackamas as sophomores. Dunn played a season at Central Washington University, while Ball transferred from Eastern Arizona University. The list continues, highlighting some o f the leagues top players including Peninsulas J.T Terrell (Wake Forest), Tacoma’s Mark McLaughlin (Seattle ...... — Univei^tyL .and Yakima Valley’s Brandi H en to n . (Long , And it’s not like those players are sitting at the end of the bench. Terrell went from being a scoring machine at Wake Forest co being a scoring machine at Peninsula, and is second in the NWAACC in scoring. Brandi Henton led the women in scoring before an injury ended her season, and Henton w as widely believed to be Long Beach States best player. McLaughlins freshman year is downright confusing. According to the Seattle Times, McLaughlin ‘initially com mitted to Washington State in 2007, during the summer before his senior season at Inglemoor [High School]. But he changed his mind, then signed with Nevada.” McLaughlin then decided to play his fieaunan season at Seattle University before transferring to Tacoma Community College, where he leads the NWAACC in scoring by a growing margin These athletes’ big names and fantastic athletic abil ity help to give the league a fece. Similar to the way that Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Dale Earnhardt brought fens to their sports because o f how they stuck out, the elite give people something to talk about Their names are easier to remember because of how they dominate those around them, and they can create a buzz in the stands, as well as around the league. Also, the transfers often happen to go to a select group of schools, and usually ones that nave a history o f big recruits and big success in the tournament Schools like Tacoma, Clackamas and Peninsula command the attention of athletes looking to transfer in because o f their history o f champion- ships and dominance o f their regions. Its no surprise that Terrell, McLaughlin, and D unn dbose the schools that they Here’s the problem: Those athletes only have this season left to play This is when the high turnover rate comes back to bite teams. They don’t get to build a team around theirstar player, they just have to button down and make do with what they’ve got Its difficult to build a dynasty when your best player is only a flash in the pan as far as you’re conoemed. Yes, die success can lead to better attention from possible recruits, but that’s as much as it does. That usually doesn’t translare to more wins the new season Pliafs win, even with more eyes on the NWAACC, back to back cham- pionships are so rare. Teams often get only one year with their star playa; E ther they will sign with a Division I school after their freshman year, or they will transfer in as a sophomore andonly have one year to play. The, NWAACC is stuck with that problem, and they have yet to come up with a creative solution. Yes, funds are tight, but maybe we need to see a billboard in Time Square with Terrells face. That might do the trick. AshleighAnderson {22), Sam M cCloud (1 Q fa n d Jenny Johnson (3)have been instrumental in the success so fa r this season. Anderson showed her continued improvement in Saturday’s game, putting up a game high 2 5 points. By John William Howard their seventh in the last eight games. T h e w in was som ething th at co-head coach Jim M artineau had been w aiting for since Novem ber: a Taking tfie court on Saturday night, freshman com plete w in o n b oth sides o f the ball, and in both guard Ashleigh A nderson wasn’t feeling all that con halves. ■, fident. W arm rips hadn’t gène well at all, her shot “I thought, w ith the tem po o f the game, w e did was- feeltftg off, and she told her team mates that a good job the entire night defending. O u r [full she w a s'/b ro k e ” .Nevertheless, her nam e was;called, court] press got to them quite a bit,” said M artineau. her shoes Were laced, and she-arid, her fellow start “Offensively, we weren’t quite as sharp th e second ers squared o ff against the Lakers o f SW O regon in half, b u t shot well, enough to score 42 ... I w ould say front p f a small, b u t rowdy crowd in Randall Hall. that.this one was pretty close [to a com plete game].” Claekaihas w on the tip and moved into a familiar ; M artineau contributed part o f the success to play, swinging the ball around the three point line, the stellar shooting, and part o f it to the fact that and looking for open shots. W hen the ball came, teams often stubbornly play zone defense against to Anderson’s hands, she trusted her instincts arid Clackamas, som ething th at allows three point shoot training, and let i t fly. Swoosh, and Clackamas is ers m ore room to w ork w ith. Because o r team ’s insis up 3-0. tence on playing zone far longer than they should O n the very next- possession, after a fum bled be, M artineau and co-head coach Kayla Steen are play by SW -O regon, the ball again found its way able to take advantage by leaning on a style o f to Anderson, at the top o f the three point line, and offense th at they both prefer. again, sire let loose, this tim e w ith a h and in her face: -- “ W eh a v e some decent size," b u t w ere n o t post- T he second shot w ent die same as the first,n o t even oriented where w ere gonna p o u n d it inside. T h a t’s hitting the rim. Just like that, Clackamas found kinda the style w ere going to play, especially if themselves up six-nothing in less than two m inutes. they zone us,” said M artineau. “O u r p h ilospphyis A nrihute later, sophom ore guard M aKesha Bizon to either shoot threes or layups, we’re no t a fan o f found her stroke, hitting her first three pointer and shooting 15 foot ju m p shots.” p u tting the Cougars up 11-4. Anderson w ould go Bizon, w ho has been shooting better as o f late, o n to score the next five points before getting a rest, finished w ith 16 points on 6-13 shooting, m ore heading to the bench w ith 11 points, a steal and a than ten percent better than her average. Bizon attri rebound in just the first five m inutes. butes m uch o f th at to a shift in her role, assh e now T he half continued how it began for Anderson, focuses on being a m ore rounded player, rather thari w ho finished the first 20 m inutes w ith 19 points on being a p u ré shooter. 7-10 shooting. Part o f the change is filling in for players that “In warm ups I kept saying that I was broke I raduated, and p art o f it is filling in , for players that couldn’t make a shot,” said Anderson, w ho again ave gone down w ith an injury. Anderson and fresh played in front o f m any m em bers o f her high school m an forward Jasm ine Gibbs-Brown have returned team. “All my team mates were like “don’t think to. the court an d sophom ore Liridsay Kanalz m ay about it you’re1 fine, you’re a natural shooter.” I was. return before the tournam ent, b u t M artineau con just striking m yself out and then after we started, firm ed th at guard Alex Howe w ould miss the going, I was like “alright, let’s do this.” è rem ainder o f th e season w ith the injury to h e r knee. O ver thinking in th e second h a lf A nderson As it is, Clackamas hasn’t stum bled m uch. As -scored only five points, h u t the dam age was done. long as A nderson keeps drinking the same water, the U p 51-35 at halftime, Clackamas (18-2, 7-1 South) Cougars will be just fine. • • cruised to a 93-72 victory over SW Oregon (8-12, 2-6 South) for their third consecutive victory and S ports E ditor Former Athletic Director hospitalized Several sources inside the athletic, departm ent have confirm ed th at form er Athletic D irector Jim Jackson has been in arid o u t o f the hospital suffering w ith pneum o nia. Jackson was keeping stats at the w om en’s basketball N W AA CC Crossover tournam ent on -Dec. 16 w hen he grew top sick to continue w orking and [was hospital ized. Jackson was released and readm itted Jan. 24, and? according to jrepbrtsds feeling m uch better. Jackson will no t returp to the sideline this season, bu t has again been released'from the hospital. Wrestling wins big over Pacific University ball game during f a ll term: Jackson worked as Clackamas’ Athletic Director fo r years and con tinued to volunteer before falling ill in December. In the final m eet before regionals, Clackamas picked up four pins, two m ajor decisions and a forfeit en route to a 44-5 crushing o f Pacific. University. T he Cougars lost only one m atch on the evening, and led 25-0 before Pacific1 scored ffteir first and only points." Clackamas fin ished the’ season-12-2, their best record since the 1989 se a so n /T h e Region’ 18 cham pionships w illb e held in Yakima? Wash, on Feb'. 11.
