Undefeated Saints barrel on

By R.C. HALSEY

With Wednesday’s win against Clackamas, the Mt. Hood Community College men’s basketball team became the first lineup in three decades to go undefeated for all 14 league games.

MHCC came out aggressively on both sides of the ball. After falling behind three points early, the Saints went on an 11-0 run. They would lead for the remainder of the game.

Clackamas was forced to take difficult shots for most of the first half.

“We came out with more intensity the first half. We really played well defensively and shut them down the first half. Our kids were emotionally ready to go. They’ve been working hard this past week. I think they were ready and they were excited at the chance to go 14-0,” said Head Coach Rob Nielson.

The Saints went in at halftime leading 46-25.

In the second half the Saints lost some of the fire they had going into the first. They were outscored 41-36 by the Cougars.

The biggest lead of the night for the Saints was 29 points in the second half. Clackamas went on a run late in the second half and narrowed the gap to 16 points before the buzzer sounded. The final score was 82-66.

Nick Klinger led the team in scoring with 25 points. Jake Glisson scored 17.

“We knew that Clackamas was going to come out with a lot of fire. We were focused on winning the whole NWAACC championship. We thought, ‘We have to start here.’ We had five games left to get the championship. Now we have four games left,” said Glisson.

Adonal Arrington had one of his best performances of the season. He scored 16 points and tied Corey Nielson for most rebounds with 10.

“I was getting to start. I just wanted to make sure I came out and played as hard as I could. Hopefully, good things are going to happen from here,” he said.

Ryan Johnson also performed well for the Saints. He had 14 points, six rebounds and two steals.

“I came out, tried to play aggressive, play my role, and help the team out where it was needed,” he said.

The players were excited about going undefeated and have high hopes going in to the NWAACC Championships, which begin this Thursday, March 9-12 at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Wash.

“It feels good. We’re feeling pretty confident, our team really came together and we’re just going to go down there and finish business,” said Klinger.

Arrington, a sophomore center, was relieved to have gone undefeated this season.

“Last year we had real high expectations for our team and we thought we’d able to accomplish it but we fell short. This year it was great to finally get it over with,” he said.

Johnson played one of his best games Wednesday and is looking forward to the NWAACCs.

“Last year we came in all ready to go and we lost our first game. This year I want to come more prepared so we don’t have that early exit again. We’re looking to win it all this year,” said Johnson.

Wednesday’s game against Clackamas was also Sophomore Night for four MHCC players: Klinger, Nielson, Arrington and Johnson. All four started.

Each player was called up and presented a framed action photograph of themselves by Athletic Director Fred Schnell, and MHCC President Robert Silverman.

Saturday the Saints played at Linn-Benton and won 68-61. They clinched their first outright Southern Region championship since the 1976-77 season.

The Saints were down by seven points at halftime but rallied in the second half to clinch their thirteenth win.

Klinger and Johnson led the way against the Roadrunners, scoring a combined 33 points. Corey Nielson had 11 points and six steals. Kaylone Riley had 11 points and three blocked shots.

“We’ll just keep on practicing and working hard against each other and get ready for next Thursday when we go up there [NWAACC tournament]. It’ll be a lot of mental preparation. Physically we’re ready, we just have to stay focused mentally,” said coach Nielson.