(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.