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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.”