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Southwestern teams start league play Wednesday
By John Gunther, Sports Editor
Tuesday, January 06, 2009 | No comments posted.
The women’s basketball team from Southwestern Oregon Community College played a great game for a good cause Sunday, beating College of the Redwoods while raising more than $1,400 for the fight against breast cancer.
Now the real work begins.
The Southwestern women and the Laker men, who finished the preseason on a down note with three straight disappointing losses, jump into NWAACC South Region play on Wednesday with a doubleheader at Umpqua Community College.
As in past years, the women will play first in the doubleheaders, with games starting at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
Southwestern’s women enter league play on a high note after their 82-56 win Sunday.
“We played really well in the first half and even better in the second half,” said Southwestern coach Mike Herbert.
The Lakers turned a 43-36 halftime lead into a big win by limiting the Corsairs to just 20 points in the second half.
“We just had a great effort on the defensive end of the floor,” Herbert said.
Offensively, the Lakers got 20 points from Megan Eng, 19 from Nicole Brzeczek and 16 from Rachel Matthews. Seven other players scored in the victory. Brzeczek also had 13 rebounds and five assists, while Kara Miller also had five assists.
“It was a really good team effort,” Herbert said. “A lot of people got involved. It was really nice to have the win going into conference play this week.”
In addition to the victory, the Lakers raised more than $1,400 for Bree’s Upscale Boutique, a Coquille store that gathers donations to help women pay for transportation, medical supplies, mammograms or other costs associated with breast cancer.
Herbert hopes the fundraiser becomes an annual event, and is expanded next year.
He also expressed thanks to BNT Embroidery for sponsoring the event.
The win was Southwestern’s only home game of the preseason, though the Lakers will have to wait until just Saturday for their first league game at home, when they host Clackamas.
That means Southwestern opens the league season with two of the region’s toughest foes. Through the preseason, Umpqua is 13-1, Lane is 11-3 and Clackamas is 9-3. Mount Hood is 8-5, with the Lakers at 5-7, followed by Linn-Benton at 4-7, Chemeketa at 4-8 and Portland at 3-5.
While the Laker women won their preseason finale, the men enter on a three-game slide after losing to both College of the Siskiyous and Shasta College at Roseburg.
“It was a very frustrating weekend to say the least,” said Southwestern coach Trevor Hoppe. “We really didn’t play well in either of the games over there.”
College of the Siskiyous beat the Lakers 97-72, while Shasta College topped Southwestern 95-77. The Lakers were particularly ineffective in the first half, allowing 57 points the first game and 62 the next.
“Hopefully, we’ll bounce back from a bad weekend where we really didn’t defend,” Hoppe said. “We didn’t have much energy or intensity at the defensive end.”
The Lakers did have a variety of offense during the weekend. Ryan Flynn, Lee Van Pelt, Alex Demith, Deleon McBride, Demario Dorsey and Justin King scored at least 10 points in one or both of the games.
But the Lakers will need to improve on both ends of the floor as they enter league play.
“We have a couple of practices to work on things and try to get ready for that first conference game,”said Hoppe.
Umpqua is the defending South Region champion, but one of several teams that have struggled in the preseason.
Clackamas has the best record to date, 12-2, followed by Mount Hood (9-3), Chemeketa (5-6), Umpqua and the Lakers (5-9), Linn-Benton (4-8), Lane (3-9) and Portland (2-11).
Now the real work begins.
The Southwestern women and the Laker men, who finished the preseason on a down note with three straight disappointing losses, jump into NWAACC South Region play on Wednesday with a doubleheader at Umpqua Community College.
As in past years, the women will play first in the doubleheaders, with games starting at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
Southwestern’s women enter league play on a high note after their 82-56 win Sunday.
“We played really well in the first half and even better in the second half,” said Southwestern coach Mike Herbert.
The Lakers turned a 43-36 halftime lead into a big win by limiting the Corsairs to just 20 points in the second half.
“We just had a great effort on the defensive end of the floor,” Herbert said.
Offensively, the Lakers got 20 points from Megan Eng, 19 from Nicole Brzeczek and 16 from Rachel Matthews. Seven other players scored in the victory. Brzeczek also had 13 rebounds and five assists, while Kara Miller also had five assists.
“It was a really good team effort,” Herbert said. “A lot of people got involved. It was really nice to have the win going into conference play this week.”
In addition to the victory, the Lakers raised more than $1,400 for Bree’s Upscale Boutique, a Coquille store that gathers donations to help women pay for transportation, medical supplies, mammograms or other costs associated with breast cancer.
Herbert hopes the fundraiser becomes an annual event, and is expanded next year.
He also expressed thanks to BNT Embroidery for sponsoring the event.
The win was Southwestern’s only home game of the preseason, though the Lakers will have to wait until just Saturday for their first league game at home, when they host Clackamas.
That means Southwestern opens the league season with two of the region’s toughest foes. Through the preseason, Umpqua is 13-1, Lane is 11-3 and Clackamas is 9-3. Mount Hood is 8-5, with the Lakers at 5-7, followed by Linn-Benton at 4-7, Chemeketa at 4-8 and Portland at 3-5.
While the Laker women won their preseason finale, the men enter on a three-game slide after losing to both College of the Siskiyous and Shasta College at Roseburg.
“It was a very frustrating weekend to say the least,” said Southwestern coach Trevor Hoppe. “We really didn’t play well in either of the games over there.”
College of the Siskiyous beat the Lakers 97-72, while Shasta College topped Southwestern 95-77. The Lakers were particularly ineffective in the first half, allowing 57 points the first game and 62 the next.
“Hopefully, we’ll bounce back from a bad weekend where we really didn’t defend,” Hoppe said. “We didn’t have much energy or intensity at the defensive end.”
The Lakers did have a variety of offense during the weekend. Ryan Flynn, Lee Van Pelt, Alex Demith, Deleon McBride, Demario Dorsey and Justin King scored at least 10 points in one or both of the games.
But the Lakers will need to improve on both ends of the floor as they enter league play.
“We have a couple of practices to work on things and try to get ready for that first conference game,”said Hoppe.
Umpqua is the defending South Region champion, but one of several teams that have struggled in the preseason.
Clackamas has the best record to date, 12-2, followed by Mount Hood (9-3), Chemeketa (5-6), Umpqua and the Lakers (5-9), Linn-Benton (4-8), Lane (3-9) and Portland (2-11).
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