By Jeremy McDonald
jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
OREGON CITY, Ore.– It was truly a tale of two halves in the Mount Hood and Clackamas Community College Men’s basketball game Wednesday night.
Scrappy first half and dominance by another in the second half
That dominance, was way of the Cougars, who turned a four-point halftime lead into a 19-point 79-60 victory to keep a firm grasp on the number two spot in the Northwest Conference.
“The second half I felt like we’re more up and down getting more aggressive into each other and that’s what hurt them,” said Brayden Massey. “I felt like we got up in them and started to play Clackamas basketball.”
Massey finished with 21 points and seven rebounds in the contest.
Entering halftime up 33-29 following a first half that featured really a slugfest defensively as neither team had more than a one or two-possession lead, the Cougars tried to find a way to pull away.
They did just that.
Vince Boumann, who just had four points and three rebounds entering the halftime break, exploded onto the scene from the bench as he set the pace early in the half en route to a 24 point, 10 rebound night to help spark the second half rally.
“It was a night and day difference to me, we started the first half really slow,” “I don’t know it was a slow start overall,” said Boumann. “We didn’t have a lot of energy.
“But in the second half, our coach kind of lit us up during halftime up in the classroom. He lit us up and got us going. That’s what we need to work on is to come out with a lot more energy and I think we did a good job of that in the second half.”
Massey joined the party along with Joey Baldwin as the lead grew to 77-53 with 2:45 left in the ball game thanks in part to cutting down their turnovers and connecting on more of their shots.
Defensively, Clackamas forced eight turnovers and out-rebounded the Saints during the second 20 minutes as they did what they’re good at. Pushing tempo.
“We just kind of put it all together honestly,” described Massey in the second half. “We knew we weren’t getting our Post enough touches, we were taking way too many ‘Stupid’ shots.
“So we came out played as a team in the second half and shared the ball and that’s what we did, we played together and got after it.”
Up next for the Cougs of Clackamas Community College is a Saturday date with Portland Community College in Portland. Tip off is slated for 4pm.
PHOTO GALLERY (PICTURES BY JEREMY MCDONALD)
Jeremy McDonald is a professional sports journalist in the Salem/Portland area and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalist in Oregon with B.S. degrees from Southern Oregon University in Journalism (2011) and Health/PE (2013). Got a story idea? Email him at jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com or on Twitter at @J_McDonald81
