Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2012)
g P R IN T : Sports Wednesday, Nov. 21,2012 Strife ensues at Starfire Stadium Left: Sophomore defender No. 1 Amanda Coulimore shuts down the Spokane offense Saturday in Tukwila at Starfire Stadium. Right: Freshman forward No. 23 Tayler Ficek battles tenacious Spokane fo r the ball. David Beasley Associate Sports Editor Roaring past Starfire Stadium Saturday morning in Tukwila, Wash., a train overshadowed a pugilistic battle of strategy and athleticism going on below. In the train’s shadow the women of Clackamas Community College were engaged in a battle of attri tion against a strong, well bal anced Spokane team. The hard fought game ended in bitter disappointment for the Cougars with the Sasquatch ladies winning 1-0. With the victory, Spokane entered the NWAACC Championship to face the Peninsula Pirates, losing 3-2 on penalty kicks on Nov. 18. “It’s a hard way to go out,” said sophomore forward Courtney Johnson. “I think we had to deal with the ref all game. Sometimes they’re just not on your side.” * The game was d o s e and Clackamas had a good oppor tunity to win, but after the 90th minute mark had passed, their efforts were stifled not by the opposing team, but by a belliger ent official call, on a negligible foul by Spokane. While Clackamas was advanc ing the ball up field in amazingly dexterous coordination o f team work, the referee decided to halt their progress by making them take a free kick over fifty yards behind the advancing ball. Clackamas was defending well the whole game, and made con sistent valiant attempts at scoring which could have eventually lead to frustrating their opponents and created a winning attack. The fol lowing result o f the free kick was one of Spokane’s players stand ing close in front of the free kick to deflect it with a header aimed towards the Cougars side. The ball found a "Spokane teammate who took advantage of the poor refereeing to score on surprised cougar defense signaling the end of the game and Clackamas’ run at the champion title. “They did really good. I’m proud of my sister,” said Jordan Hollamon, sister of Kenzie Hollamon. “The ref call was just unlucky.” Clackamas displayed a tank strength clinic of defense in the first half, frustrating the offen sive attacks of Spokane. At halftime the teams took cover escaping the rain under trees and tents. The scoreboard reflected the even 0-0 score. Clackamas kicked off for the sec- ond half and as the wind picked up, it seemed the Sasquatch offensive did too. With six cor ner kicks acquired through the campaign, the ladies of Spokane proved that they were there for a fight and wanted to score. The Cougars had an impres sive run at the NWAACC tour nament, rivaled by few in the 2012 season. This season showed the consistency and dedication of the hard working women of Clackamas. With such a strong performance this year, Clackamas is sure to be even stronger in the years to, come, with 13 potential returnees. “I think they played a great season,” said Tyler Trumbull,, Tather oi goalkeeper M elanie Trumbull. “They improved and coach Janine Szpara helped a lot.” Basketball: Cougars light up scoreboard in w in Freshman guard No. 33 Michone Hopkins gets in position fo r a rebound during a 115-105 win over Northwest Indian College on Friday night at Clackamas’ Randall Hall. Continued from Page 1 Midway through the second half during a tie game, Clackamas’ freshman guard Anthony Lianzo committed a hard foul while going for the ball on Eagle Mike Schang, who took exception to the play as the players went face to face before being separated by the referees. Lianzo was given a technical for the flagrant foul, and a double technical was issued against both players, so Lianzo headed to the locker room, ejected with two technical fouls. After that play, the Eagles got a basket and made five of six free throws to build its largest lead, 79-72. “They have a lot of fight in them,” said freshman Michone Hopkins on the Eagles. “We had them pretty much in the dirt and they kept coming back.” The Cougars settled down after falling behind, as sopho mores Nate Keilholtz and Brock Lutes completed consecutive three-point plays to pull within 79-78 with less than 10 minutes to go. The game went back and forth from there, featuring 10 lead changes and four ties as neither team went ahead by more than three points for the next six minutes. The Cougars finally got a cushion, pushing ahead on baskets by Jordan Barber, Lutes and Kirby Hawkins while set tling down on defense and getting defensive rebounds to deny the Eagles second chance opportuni ties. The Cougars finished with a 56-39 edge on the boards, includ ing a 20-12 advantage on offen sive rebounds. “At the end of the game we did a good job of getting the ball down low to Barber,” said Wegner. “He had a good game.” The 6-foot-9 Barber nailed all six of his foul shots in the final two minutes. As a team, Clackamas made eight of nine foul shots in the final three minutes as they held the Eagles to just two made baskets and five points over that stretch. Hopkins led the Cougars with 27 points, pouring in 20 in the first half by making eight of 10 field goals. Hopkins also added 11 rebounds and made five of eight three-pointers, including four in the first half. “The defense was giving me the shot, so I took it,” said Hopkins. “I felt on fire.” Barber added 24 points and a team-high 12 rebounds and two blocks in a great night of work. Brock Lutes added 22 points, six rebounds, and three assists in a good all-around effort. “Brock seemed to get stronger as the game went along,” said Wegner. Clackamas shot 50 per cent (41/82) from the field for the game. Josh Nelson led Northwest Indian College with game-highs of 33 points and 14 rebounds. “Nelson is a really good bas ketball player,” said Wegner. “He is a load and hard to guard.” Doug Williams added 20 points, while guards Schang and Randy Evans combined for 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and six steals for the scrappy Eagles “Schang is a really good guard,” added Wegner. Mahle was impressed with what he saw out of the Cougars. “I think they’ll be fine,” said Mahle. “They got a good group of guys and they’ll do well in the NWAACC and overall be a good team.”
