The Clackamas print., November 22, 2017, Page 7, Image 7

Cougars tip-off season with win
STORY BY JACOB. THOMPSON
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
n h o t n s hv"!lf»anp+r-e» W r in h t-
The Clackamas Community College women’s basketball
team started the season off w ith a bang, defeating the
Centralia College Trailblazers 75-64 on Nov. 18.
T he gam e w a s th e firs t in tw o y e ars fo r b o th
sophom ore guard N icole H erm o sillo-W right, w h o
fed-shirted during the 2016-17 season, and sophomore
guard Ricki Mock who4:ransferred to CCC after playing
for Southwestern Oregon Community College in 2015-
16.
Even after a year off, Herm osillo-W right and Mock
both started for the Cougars along w ith sophomore
guard Brittany McCormick, sophomore guard Kennedy
Nofziger and sophomore forward Kayce Mock. The small
lineup seemed to help the Cougars run the fast-paced
offense Head Coach Jim Martin'eau lives by.
“ That’ s been us since I started coaching here,” said
Martineau. “ We shootour.share of [three-pointers].
We shot 43, probably a couple too many, but I have no
problem shooting 35 to 40 [three-pointers] a night.
We don’t have a ton of size and th ey’re running zone
so th at’ s w hat th ey’ re giving u s.”
Hermosillo-Wrighit came out with the hPt-haiidfrpm
behind the arc right from the opening tip, hitting three
consecutive 3 -p o in ts h o ts to give the Codgars early
comm and of the game ’
“ It felt so good after taking a whole year o ff,” said
H erm osillo-W right. “To coihe back the Way I did, I’ m
just really proud of m yself and the team really came
through too i It was a.real team effort. ”
W ith th e help of H eriribsillo-W right’s great start
shooting, Clackamas w as able to lead the entire first
' quarter, and put up 32 points to Centralia’ s 2 2 ..
“ A nytim e somebody comes out like that, it kind of
lights the fire for the w hole gam e,” said Kayce Mock.
“ To start o ff a quarter w ith 32 points, you.can’ t really
beat th at.” '
Both team s struggled to keep the fast, pace in the
second, quarter, ancl sh ots w e re n ’ t fallin g quite as
frequently, but Clackam as was s tilt able to outscore
the Trailblazers; 11.-40.
“ I th in k w e need:to im prove On ge ttin g ourselves
slowed down,” said Ricki Mock. “ W hen w e try to get
ahead of ourselves th a t’ s w hen w e start to get into
a little b it o f trouble. If w e slow ourselves down w e
should do pretty w ell.”
The Cougars went into half-tim e leading 43-32, and
finished the half shooting i6 for 43 from the field (37.2
field goal percentage)’ nine for 28 from beyond the
three-point line (32.1 fg%), and two for three from the
charity stripe. Centralia shot 13 for 33 from the field
(39.4 fg%), four for 10 from th ree-poin t territory, and
two for four at the free throw line, but never were able
to take the lead away from Clackamas, a fact that would
stay true the entire night. „ ’
“ We need to keep the game at our pace, ” said Kayce
Mock. “ We need to play our game, and not the other
team ’s gam e.”
In the third quarter the Trailblazers continued to push ’
the ball down lowto their posts, and it started to wear down
Clackamas’ defense, and it was the only quarter in which
Clackamas Print ----------- ----------- -------------
Sophomore forward Kayce Mock wins the opening tip-off against Centralia.
Centralia outscored CCC 21-17. The score after three
was CCC 60-53.
. ^Defensively we could improve a little bit on stopping
their posts from scoring,” said H erm osillo-W right.
“ We have a struggle with height, but we did a good job
pn defense side, other than w ith the posts.” ;
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth fight to the
.finish. Centralia had some success bringing a full-court
press against the Cougars offense, but with superb ball
handling from guard Brittany McCormick that made
the defenders trying to stop h er look like they were on
roller-skates, Clackamas was able to escape the press,
and preserve the win.
“ I w a s ju s t try in g to run o u t th e c lo c k ,” said
M cCormick. “ I thought I should pass it up before I
turned it over, but no one was open. ” .
for [Hermosillo-W right], She’ s been waiting a year to
do th is.”
H e rm o sillo -W rig h t led th e C ou gars in scoring,
fin is h in g ’ w ith 25 p oin ts on. 10 fp r 23 sh oo tin g.
McCormick added 17 going six for iiir o r iv th e field,
and Kayce Mock added 15 poipts and 10 rebounds to
record her first double-double of the season.
C la c k a m a s’ n ex t ga m es w ill be a..part o f th e
Thanksgiving Tournament they are hosting. They w ill
m atch up against Southwestern Oregon Com m unity
College at 1 p.m. on Nov. 24 at Clackamas Community
College.
Kayce Mock dribbles up the court.
“Anytime somebody comes out
like that, it kindof lights the fire
for the whole game.”
-K a y ® Mock
The Cougars finished the second half shooting 12 for
32 from the field, four for 15 from the three-ppint line,
and four for 10 from the free throw line. Centralia shot
14 for 26 from the field, three for seven from beyond
the three-point arc, and one for three from the free
throw line.
“ It’ s a good w in ,” said Martineau. “ That’s a re a lly
good team. They’ ll win 23 or 24 games and finish first
or second over [in their division]. I’m just super happy
---------------
theclackam asprint.net
----------
Novem ber 22, 2017