Cougars struggle to find consistency
GRAPPLING WITH MEDIOCRE SEASON, COUGARS ATTEMPT TO MOUNT COMEBACK LATE IN YEAR
photo b,y Austin Boltz
BY TRAVIS DAVID V WHITTAKER
S in ce th e 1 9 9 9 -2 0 0 0 se a s o h , th e
Clackam as m en ’ s basketball team has
found them selves am ong the 16 team s
that qualified for the NWAC tournament.
But this year, the team is in unfam iliar
territory, unsure if th e y ’ll m ake the
tournam ent.
W ith only seven games left before the
postseason, the team is sitting just above
.500 and at the middle of the pack in the
Southern Region of the NWAC conference.
Head coach C lif Wegner has stated that
the th is is one of the youngest teams that
he has ever coached in his 19-year tenure
at the college. W hen Wegner was asked
how the season has gone So far this year
he described it like this.
“ It’ s been ups and downs, peaks and
valleys,” Wegner said.
Clackamas has lost a total of nine games
this season with five of those losses being
by five points or less. Three of those have
been in the Southern Region games.
Wegner mentioned that some poor play
has contributed to the team ’ s record. In
a game against Clark College, where they
lost by three points, the.team had to use
five tim eouts in the first h alf just to stay
in the game and give themselves a chance
to tie with a desperate shot at the buzzer.
Clack am as fre sh m an guard, Briggs
Y o u n g , added th a t w h en th ey w ere
growing up, a lot of them had been playing
against each other, and it’ s taking some
tim e to adjust to playing together.
“ It ’ s been alrigh t. It ’ s been up and
down, really rocky and were still trying
to find our spot and find a way to play
t o g e th e r ,” Y o u n g sa id . “ I t ’ s b een
difficult:” I
Nygil Carr drives past a Portland Community College defender. The Cougars
would eventually win the Jan. 28 home game with a score of 96-85.
Wegner brought up that it’ s ä matter of
doing everything a bit better and playing
harder, with intensity and understanding,
su ch as h as b een th e tra d itio n o f
Clackäm as m en’ s basketball in the past.
Freshman small forward Simon Stringer
strictly w an ts th e team to focu s on
winning right now.
“ U n derstand in g th at w inning is the
most important thing right how,” Stringer
said. “ At a com m unity college, it can be
tough at tim es because people want to
get to the next level, and sometimes that
goes in front o f w inning. Som e people
put their individual goals in front of the
team goals.”
Stringer said that if he can step into
his role that the coaches have given him ,
it will help lead the team to some wins
and help extend the postseason run for
another season.
Stringer looks at Clackam as’s streak as
m otivation to keep it going.
“ It definitely would suck to be the team
that ended that streak,” Stringer said.
“Just understanding that there is more at
stake than just individual goals, and we
are actually a part o f som ething bigger
than ourselves.”
Y ou n g lik es the te a m ’s ch an ces o f
m aking it into the NW AC tournam ent.
“ The leagu e is so w ide o pen th a t
a n y th in g can h a p p e n ,” Y o u n g said.
There’ s quadruple ties for last in league
right now, and it can go an y w ay.”
W ith the team on the cusp of ending
Clackam as’ s streak or continuing it for
an oth er season, it w ill depend on the
way that the team plays down the home
stretch.
The team currently sits in a four-w ay
tie for the fourth spot in the Southern
Region. A fter a 92-83 w in on Feb. 4 at
C h em ek eta C o m m u n ity C o lle g e , the
Cougars now have a three-gam e winning
streak. Their next game will be at home
against Southw est Oregon Com m unity
, College on Feb. 11 at 4 p .m ., where they
will look to avenge a 4-point loss earlier
this season versus the Lakers.
REMAINING SCHEDULE
Feb. 11
SW Oregon Community College
F e b .18
Lane Community College
March 1
@Clark College
March 9-13
NWAC Tournament Rounds i-2
@ Everett Community College
March 4
@ Portland Community College
March 19-20
NWAC Championship Final Four
@ Everett Community College
Feb. 22
Chemeketa Community College
Feb. 15
@Mt. Hood Community College
6 Clackamas flint FEBRUARY 8,20174tieclackamäspffht.com
Feb. 25
Umpqua Community College