The Clackamas print., January 20, 2016, Page 6, Image 6

Cougars
seek
league
title
Clackamas basketball teams looks to improve for late season success
BY KATIE ARCHER AND JAMES HARLEY
Good enough to win will not allow a team
to become great in the league.
C lackam as Com m unity C o lle g e ’ s
basketball team s are playing w ell,
but according to their coaches, some
improvements need to be made in order
to win league.
The teams are entering into their league
schedule with overall winning records
both at 12-6. The m en’s and women’s
teams look to be competitive in their
divisions to try to claim the league
championship, or at least finish in the
■stop four to claim a spot in the playoffs.
At the start o f the season, m en’ s
basketball head coach Clif Wegner would
have graded his at a 74 percent. In the
last few games, Wegner said his team
has raised their performance to a solid
84 percent. Wegner would like to see his
team do a better job of taking care of the
basketball. The team had 30 turnovers
against Lane Community College.
W omen’ s basketball head coach Jim
Martineau said his team is better than
average but not outstanding. There are
two areas where the women need to
improve offensively and defensively.
Martineau has been happy with his
tea m ’ s im provem ents defensively
but they still need to get better.
Inconsistencies with gaps of two to four
minutes have been offensive problems
for the women.
“ Generally, our goal always is to win
league,” said Martineau, who has been
apart of nine league championships in his
18 years with the program. "And after that
it’s to finish in the top four the qualify for
playoffs. So, those are the two big goals
every time we get into league.”
On Saturday, Jan. 16, the teams faced
off against Umpqua Community College.
The women struggled to get shots to
fall their way during the first half and
made adjustments at halftime to get their
70-66 win.
“ At first we were so ten se ,” said
sophomore guard/forward Jo Paine. “ We
came to play today. You can tell by the
outcome of the game we came to play.”
Paine described the game as a good
Clackamas celebrates victory over UCC Jan. 16
6 Clackamas P rint JANUARY 2 0 ,2 0 1 6 trieclackamaspfint.com
challenge for the team because they will
compete against UCC again, at U C C ’ s
court and possibly in playoffs.
Going forward into league, sophomore
forward Lauren Lindley said, “ I’m really
looking forward to it. Cause I think we
made a statement today [against U CC].”
The men led by as much as 12 points in
the first half and had a 49-40 lead going
into halftime, but UCC chipped away the
“We’re excited about
our team, and we
think we're going to
get better.”
-Clif Wegner
lead in the second half and even at one
point took the lead, but CCC ended up
pulling away in the final two minutes for
a 100-94 win.
“They’re a really good team,” said Parker
Gaddis, a freshman guard. “ Even though
we had a lot of momentum, we knew they
were going to come out swinging at us.”
Sophomore center Vince Boumann
said,“ I’m just really glad that we can keep
our momentum going. It was definitely a
great win and I’m proud of my team for
executing.”
Wegner’s teams have finished in the
Southern Region top three the last 16
consecutive seasons.
“ W e’re excited about our team, and
we think we’ re going to get better,”
said Wegner. “ 1 think we have a lot of
improvement that we can and will make
as the season goes into January and
February and hopefully peak at playoff
tim e.”
The top two finishers in league will host
playoff games before going into the NWAC
championship tournament.
On Jan. 18, the Cougars faced Portland
Community College. The men’s team won
83-76 and the women’s team lost 87-72.
Marry Hutchins looks to take control of the game.