P R IN T : Sports
Wednesday, Feb. 27,2013
Women win big
Andrew Millbrooke
Sports Editor
The Clackamas women’s bas
ketball team won its final two
regular season games by a com
bined 80 points last week as they
clinched their third Southern
Region championship in the past
four seasons. The Cougars (23-4,
13-1) have won 18 of 19 games
and are a confident group head
ing into the NWAACC tourna
ment in Kennewick, Wash, this
weekend.
“We fopnd our rhythm in the
last two pre-season games and
everyone started to click on the
same page,” said freshman wing
Tori Wilkinson. “That’s when
we knew we were going to be
good. We’ve gotten better and
better and we just want to go to
NWAACC’s and win it all.”
The Cougars regularly play
nine players and all have been
big contributors on the season.
Six different players have led
the team in scoring at least once
on the season.
“Anyone can step up,” said
Wilkinson. “You’re never going
to know who it is. I don’t know
how you prepare to beat a team
that can do that.”
Co-head coach Jim Martineau
loves having so many options on
the offensive end.
“I think it’s key,” said
Martineau. “We’ve gone up there
years in the past with one or two
main scorers and if they struggle
in a game, w e’re in big trouble.
So, it’s a nice thing to go up
knowing that if someone has an
off night, there are three or four
other kids that can get you 12
to 15 points. Psychologically, I
think it’s big for the group. They
know they can trust their team
mates and they don’t have to
play perfect for us to go up there
and do well.”
The Cougars had some injury
issues early in the season, but
once everyone got healthy they
were almost impossible to beat.
A big key was when freshman
point guard Lacy Effenberger
returned from a tom ACL
(anterior cruciate ligament).
“Once we got Lacy back from
tearing her ACL, we realized
that everyone can play on the
same page,” said Wilkinson.
“We can do what we want to do
and play how we want to play.
I think our depth has helped us
tremendously.” '
It was no surprise that the
Cougars swept most o f the top
honors when All-Region awards
were handed out on Sunday.
Co-head coaches Martineau
and Kayla Steen were named
Southern Region Coaches of the
Year. Clackamas’ leading scorer,
sophomore Jenny Johnson, was
named MVP. Fellow sophomore
Ashleigh Anderson joined her
on the All-Region first team.
Effenberger earned second
team honors and won the fresh
man MVP award. Wilkinson and
sophomore Megan Feldman both
were named to the Honorable
Mention team.
The Cougars open up the
NWAACC
tournam ent
on
Saturday against Spokane CC
(15-11, 8-6) at 8 p.m. Spokane
is the number four seed from the
East Region.
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Season Stats
«
M en’s basketball w ins again
Andrew Millbrooke
Sports Editor
“Who woulda thunk it?” The
first fine of Clackamas men’s bas
ketball head coach Clif Wegner’s
email said it all. A month ago, the
Cougar men’s basketball team
had lost seven of eight games,
including five o f six in league, to
sit in last place in the Southern
Region standings. The season
was in the toilet, about to be
flushed into stinky oblivion.
What a difference a month
makes. The Cougars didn’t quit.
They came together as a team,
found the lineups that worked,
and rolled off seven wins in the
final eight league games to quali
fy for the NWAACC tournament
for the 14th consecutive season.
“We’re clicking now,” said
freshman point guard Michone
Hopkins. “We’re getting stops
on defense and our shots are fall
ing. Everyone’s going good right
now.”
Sophomore guard Kirby
Hawkins has been a huge spark
off the bench for the Cougars,
leading them in scoring in three
of the past five games.
“I feel like we can beat anyone
from the start,” said Hawkins.
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“We just kind of had a rocky road
at the beginning. Our lineup was
kind of messed up, along with our
chemistry as a new team.”
It wasn’t easy either. The
Cougars won five straight elimi
nation games to end the sea
son, culminating in a thrilling
one-point overtime victory over
Umpqua CC in Roseburg on
Saturday. Clackamas fell behind
13-2 as a fired up Riverhawks
team was ready to end its season.
The Cougars didn’t buckle
though, as they settled down and
slowly got back into the game to
take a 39-33 halftime lead. They
held the lead for most o f the sec
ond half, before pulling out the
82-81 overtime victory behind
the scoring of Brock Lutes and
clutch free throws by Jordan
Mosby-Barber.
Both Lutes and Mosby-Barber
posted double-doubles, while
Hawkins came off the bench to
score 20 points. Lutes finished
with a game-high 24 points, 10
rebounds, four assists and two
steals. Barber added 19 points
and game-high 12 rebounds.
Clackamas 91,
Portland CC 81
■ On sophomore night in the
final home game of the season,
the Cougars rallied in the second
half behind a sensational scor
WEDNESDAY-2 /2 7
• NBA: Denver at
■ Portland, 7:30 p.m.
CSNW/ESPN/KEX
• Randall Fitness
Center: 8:30-10
a.m. and 1-8 p.m.
downstairs in
Randall Hall
ing performance from Hawkins
to pull away from the Panthers
in another must win game and
keep their postseason hopes alive.
Hawkins poured in 32 points,
making five of six 3-pointers and
13 o f 15 field goals overall.
“I can’t even explain how big
of a win that is,” said Hawkins.
“On sophomore night too, it feels
good. We just started clicking
lately. As long as we play how we
were playing today we can beat
anybody.”
The men were well represent
ed during the Southern Region
awards on Sunday. Sophomore
wing Brock Lutes earned first
team honors, while fellow sopho
more Kirby Hawkins was named
to the second team All-Region.
Freshman point guard Michone
Hopkins was second in the fresh
man Player of the Year voting,
earning All-Freshman team and
honorable mention All-Region
honors. Sophomore Jake Dewitt
was named to the All-Defensive
team. Sophomore post Jordan
Mosby-Barber was named as an
alternate for the sophomore All-
Star game.
Clackamas (16-12, 8-6) opens
up the NWAACC tournament
in Kennewick, Wash, against
Yakima Valley CC (20-8, 10-4)
at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 2.
THURSDAY-2/28
FRIDAY-3/1
• Intramural
Volleyball: Noon-1
CCC Softball:
p.m. in Randall Gym
• Randall Fitness
Center: 12-8 p.m.
downstairs
in Randall Hall
at Delta Park
vs. Concordia 5 p.m.
vs. Bellevue 7 p.m.
SATURDAY-3/2
• Cougar
Basketball:
at NWAACC
Championships
Men - 4 p.m.
Women - 8 p.m.
• CCC Softball:
vs. NW Christian at
Delta Park, 10 a.m.
f i l i l i
Points:
...............
Rebounds: 5.9
...Get ALA-PIM
^^84155
.
www.ALA-PIM.COM
S U N D A Y-3/3
♦ CCC Baseball:
Clark at CCC, Noon
• Cougar
Basketball:
at NWAACC
Championships in
Kennewick, Wash.
Runs through
Tuesday, March 5
H 'r t m A Y - 3 /r
• NBA: Charlotte at
Portland, 7 p.m.
CSNW, KEX
• Randall Fitness
Center:
8:30-10 a.m. and
1-6 p.m. - downstairs
in Randall Hall
TUESDAY-3/5
• Intramural
Basketball:
Noon-1 p.m.
in Randall Gym
• Randall Fitness
Center:
Noon-8 p.m.
downstairs
in Randall Hall