by Jacob Graves
Sports Editor

Clackamas Community College women’s and men’s basketball teams hosted Chemeketa on Saturday, Jan. 18, for afternoon matches. The women’s squad, coached by Jim Martineau, began play at 2 p.m. and won 72-65 over Chemeketa, leaving Clackamas with an overall record of 13-4 and 4-1 in conference play, while Chemeketa left with a 12-5 record and 1-3 in conference matchups; both teams remain in the playoff hunt after Saturday’s matchup.

For the Cougars, freshman guard Mollie Miller had the hot hand as she scored a personal best 31 points on 11-20 shooting, with 6 out of 10 shots falling from beyond the three-point line. Other standouts in the game include Toni Coleman (12p/9r/3a/2stl), Braylee Riturban (7p/9r/6a/2stl), and Anna Parker (10p/3r/1a/1stl). Martineau’s squad took charge in the fourth quarter, as the Cougars held Chemeketa to 8 points to seal the win.

Mollie Miller taking a free throw. Photo by Trey Copeland

When asked about the team’s win, Martineau said, “I thought we got off on a great foot offensively, scoring 26 in the first quarter. We didn’t exactly replicate after that, but we defended well enough especially in the fourth quarter; we held them to eight points, so we did a really good job. I’m really proud of the group, this was a really good win especially against an improved Chemeketa team.” 

Martineau said the team is evolving. 

”We’re just having to adjust a little bit due to a couple injuries, playing a little small and playing more guards. And normally we force more turnovers than they got, and we turned it over a bunch tonight. So those two areas we need to get better at, and we will continue to get better.”

Women’s head coach, Jim Martineau, is looking up at the scoreboard. Photo by Trey Copeland

Miller praised her team after the close win, saying, “I think we played really good. We stuck together the whole time, even when they brought out the pressure, we just stuck together to finish up the game that close.” 

Miller said the team will approach their remaining matches one game at a time in order to keep pushing for a playoff berth this season. 

“Honestly, we’re just taking it game by game,” Miller said. “We don’t think about the next game until we focus on one game at a time so we can keep our winning streak going.”

Stat Leaders:

• PTS: Mollie Miller – 31 (CCC), Mady Diaz – 17 (CHE)
• REB: t-Braylee Riturban, Toni Coleman – 9 (CCC), Annie Bafford – 9 (CHE)
• AST: Braylee Riturban – 6 (CCC), Ella Holwege – 5 (CHE)
• STL: t-Toni Coleman, Mollie Miller, Braylee Riturban – 2 (CCC), t-Ava Rubio, Ella Holwege, Sadie Snyder – 3 (CHE)
• BLK: Mollie Miller – 1 (CCC), Ella Holwege – 1 (CHE)

As far as the men’s game, Clif Wegner’s squad began its match at 4 p.m. and ended up taking the victory against Chemeketa by a close margin of 68-63 to place them at 9-9 overall and 3-2 in conference play. The men’s Chemeketa squad finished the match with a record of 6-10 while going 1-3 in the South conference. This game made the Cougars one step closer to winning their league and contending for the playoffs.

The Cougars bench is celebrating after a scored basket. Photo by Quinton Prudhomme

During the game, Gray Thompson (17p/8r/1a/1stl) and Colton Blackham (17p/3r/9a/1stl) led the charge in the Clackamas win. The Cougars were down in the first half 31-30, but the second half was a different story; Wegner’s squad outscored the Chemeketa Storm 38-30 in the second half. Nick DiGiulio (9p/3r/1a/2stl) and Connor Oertel (14p/5r/1a/1stl) showed out in the second half as well, with Oertel hitting a clutch three-pointer in the remaining 30 seconds of the game to secure the win.

Grey Thompson on the offense against the Chemeketa Storm. Photo by Quinton Prudhomme

After the win, Wegner said, “We made our free throws and we kept it a pretty even ball game. We did a great job with the ball, and in the second half, we had nine turnovers at halftime and finished with 10. We stepped up and hit some threes, our players were moving and finding people in the zones and doing a good job.”

With the momentum obtained over the past few games, the Cougars stay in playoff contention. Wegner said, “I say we just got to play every game one at a time. We have great players and facilitators and we need to keep it moving and get the job done.”

The women’s and men’s Cougars head southeast next to take on the Portland Community College Panthers at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Jan. 20 respectively. 

Stat Leaders:

• PTS: t-Colton Blackham, Gray Thompson – 17 (CCC), Kaden Holm – 14 (CHE)
• REB: Gray Thompson – 8 (CCC), Kaden Holm –  21 (CHE)
• AST: Colton Blackham – 9 (CCC), Kellen Sande – 6 (CHE)
• STL: Nick DiGiulio – 2 (CCC), Kenton Wright – 3 (CHE)
• BLK: Gray Thompson – 1 (CCC), t-Kenton Wright, Kaden Holm – 1 (CHE)