‘Yote Notes –
Dec. 15, 2002
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Mike Safford Jr.
– Sports Info. Director
msafford@albertson.edu
GENERAL
ATHLETICS NEWS:
PRICE NAMED ALL-AMERICAN: Senior outside hitter Kristyn
Price was named Second-Team NAIA All-American last Wednesday, following the
NAIA Championships in San Diego. The honor for Price, the 2002 Cascade
Conference and NAIA Region I Player-of-the-Year, is the highest achieved by a
Coyote spiker. The Bellevue, Idaho native joins Southern Oregon's
Kristina Matchett on the second-team, with Concordia's Mindy Wallis on the
third-team.
INTERNAL ERROR SNUBS IGOE, BAILEY:
Both Kristen
Bailey and Amber Igoe were set to be among the 124 players selected
to the 2002 NAIA Volleyball All-America Scholar-Athlete team. However, a
late ballot send by the Albertson sports information office was not accepted by
the NAIA, and the duo was left off the list. Bailey has a 3.52 GPA in
education, while Igoe has a 3.82 GPA in biology.
SKI REPORT: The weather is starting to become
more indicative of winter, and the start of the Albertson ski season is inching
closer. The white stuff began falling on the Idaho mountains this week,
as Brundage Mountain in McCall, site of the Coyotes first Northwest Conference
Qualifier, now has a 13-inch base, and 31-inches of powder at the top. At
Bogus Basin, the camp reports a base of 16 inches, with more snow expected in
the next three days.
SIMONTACCHI
HELPS IN COYOTE CAMP: Last weekend, Coyote pitching coach Chris Frith
presented the sixth-annual “Pitcher’s Only” Prospect Camp for the top high
school pitching prospects in the Northwest.
MEN’S BASKETBALL (7-6): Cascade Conference
season to open up Tuesday at Western Baptist
LAST WEEK: Idle
COMING UP: at Western Baptist, Tuesday, 8 p.m. (PST); at
Concordia, Wednesday, 8 p.m. (PST).
THE SEASON OFFICIALLY STARTS
NOW: For the No. 20 ranked team in
the NAIA Division II, the 13 preseason games were just preparation for what
lies ahead – the grueling Cascade Conference schedule, which begins this
week. With as much parity as ever
before, there will be no gimmes in the next 18 games for the ‘Yotes. The prize at the end of the tunnel, however,
is an automatic berth to the NAIA Tournament for the regular-season champion.
FINALS OVER, ITS TIME FOR
HOOP: For the 18 members of the
Albertson men’s basketball team, the late-night studying days of finals week is
over – minds are now turned to hoops for the next two weeks. Following the CCC opening trip this week and
a week off for Christmas, Albertson will host two more league tilts before the
players return to the classroom.
FRESHMAN PHENOM FOR WESTERN: Albertson opens the league season in Salem on
Tuesday against Western Baptist.
First-year head coach Justin Sherwood is rebuilding a Warrior (2-8) club
which lost two All-Conference players before the season started, and has
dropped five-in-a-row. However, Western
boasts 6-9 freshman post Eric Fiegi (22.6 ppg, 9.6 rpg), a South Medford grad
who is the top frosh recruit in the loop.
The Coyotes must also stop senior guard Marty Reid (17.7 ppg, 4.9 apg)
and wing Ben Morris (12.2 ppg).
Albertson has won three-straight in the series and holds a 32-17
all-time advantage.
STOPPING CONCORDIA: Four weeks ago, Albertson dropped a tight 80-79
contest against Wednesday’s foe, Concordia. The Cavs (5-3) have won four of their past five, including wins
against Evergreen and George Fox. Brad
Barbarick has four players averaging in double-figures, including All-American
forward Keith Childs (15.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg).
Albertson must be able to check transfer guard Steve Ford (13.0 ppg),
who scored 19 second half points to rally Concordia to the November victory. The Cavalier win ended a four-game
Albertson win streak in the series, which the ‘Yotes lead 32-7 (dating back to
1980).
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Notable games this week include a Tuesday tussle
in Portland between Cascade and Warner Pacific, two teams that have had a nice
preseason start. Oregon Tech and Southern
make the northern trek to Northwest and Evergreen, while Eastern joins the
‘Yotes in the Willamette Valley.
AN UNOFFICIAL PRESEASON
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: With the preseason all
but completed, a group of 11 players have truly outdistanced themselves from
the rest of the conference. Leading the
way is Oregon Tech point-guard Todd Mathews (11.8 ppg, 8.7 apg, 4.3 rpg), one
of the top players to play for Dan Miles in his epic tenure in Klamath Falls,
earning the Owls the No. 1 spot in the NAIA poll. Also among the leaders is Western’s Eric Fiegi (see above),
Warner Pacific’s Matt Segrin (18.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg), and the Coyotes Tom Perkes
(Spokane, Wash. / Big Bend CC) (17.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg). The duo of Tevis Jones (16.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and
Matt Evers (16.4 ppg, 7.2 rpg) has vaulted Cascade up to No. 17 in the national
poll. Also off to good starts are Zac
Olson (21.3 ppg) of Southern, Keith Childs (see above) of Concordia, and last
season’s CCC Newcomer of the Year, Mike Parker (18.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg) of
Evergreen. Rounding out the group is
Eastern transfer Larry Smith (30.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg), who not only leads the loop
in scoring, but hopes to resurrect the Mountaineer program in 2003.
BACK ON THE AIR: It was learned late last week that both Coyote games this week (Tuesday at Western Baptist and Wednesday at Concordia) will be broadcast live on the Home of the Coyotes, 1490 KCID-AM with Mike Safford Jr. calling the action. For those outside the Treasure Valley, the games can also be heard via the Albertson athletic website at the following address: www.collegeofidaho.edu/webcam/Athletics.asx.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE
COYOTES: For game stories, statistics,
and information regarding the Albertson men’s basketball program, head to the
official site of Coyote basketball: www.collegeofidaho.edu/athlete/mensbasketball.htm.
CASCADE CONFERENCE HOTLINE: For up-to-date scores from the Cascade Conference,
call the Cascade Conference Hotline at (208) 459-5135. Each night, scores and updated standings are
posted on the Conference Standings page within the Albertson men’s basketball
website at www.collegeofidaho.edu/athlete/mbasketball/stats/standings.htm.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (5-8):
After tough loss at NNU, Lady ‘Yotes set to open up
Cascade Conference play
LAST
WEEK: Lost at Northwest Nazarene, 80-69.
COMING
UP: at Western Baptist, Tuesday, 6 p.m. (PST); at
Concordia, Wednesday, 6 p.m. (PST).
ENTERTAINING
GAME FOR FANS, HEARTWRENCHING FOR LADY ‘YOTES: A see-saw 40 minute affair is what fans that made
the trek to Nampa on Saturday night witnessed, as the Albertson women countered
every Northwest Nazarene blow for 35 minutes, before succumbing to the
Crusaders, 80-69. The Lady ‘Yotes
opened the second half on fire, outscoring NNU 18-4 over the first five minutes
of the period, grabbing a 51-44 lead.
However, the Crusaders would respond, running off 14 unanswered
points. The two teams would draw even
at 66-66, but the Coyotes would manage just one field goal over the final six
minutes of the game.
INSTANT
OFFENSE: That five minute
explosion by the Lady ‘Yotes to open up the second half was sparked by freshman
Dani Cotterell (Nampa, Idaho / Nampa HS). Playing
just blocks from her high school gym, Cotterell scored 11 of her game-high 21
points during that stretch. She hit
8-of-13 shots from the floor, including 4-of-6 from outside the arc in the
losing effort.
ON THE
ROAD: Hopefully the trend will continue this week
as Cascade Conference play opens up in the Willamette Valley – the Lady ‘Yotes
have put up better numbers away from the J.A. Albertson Activities Center. In the nine road games this year, Albertson
has shot 43-percent from the floor and 33-percent from three-point range. At home, both numbers are nearly one-tenth
of a percentage point lower. On the
road, the Coyotes grab two more rebounds than their opponents and average 71
points a night, while giving up four more rebounds at home and averaging 59
points a game.
ABOUT
WESTERN: With 8-of-10 teams in
the Cascade Conference below .500 during the preseason, it is hard to tell how
good other teams are. Take for instance
Western Baptist, the Lady ‘Yotes opponent on Tuesday. The Warriors (3-5) have a new coach (Dave
Bale) and graduated key components of last season’s 23-13 team, but are coming
off a nice 54-48 win at Linfield.
Western is led by forward Amber Matthews (12.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and post
Toran Lundgren (12.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg), and average 62 points a game as a
team. The Salem, Ore. bunch has played
a Northwest Conference laden preseason slate – going 2-4 against teams from the
Division III loop. Albertson swept the
season series last year, winning 56-52 in Salem and 55-51 in Caldwell, and lead
the all-time series 12-5.
CONCORDIA
LOOKING FOR REVENGE: It was the Lady ‘Yotes
who avenged two regular-season losses to Concordia one-year ago, knocking
the Cavaliers out of the post-season with a 54-43 win in the CCC playoffs. Wednesday night, these two teams meet
again. Miriam Jenkins has seen her Cavs
(2-7) start slowly, including their current four-game losing streak. However, Concordia has played one of the
toughest preseason schedules in the conference (Biola, Montana-Western,
Willamette, Whitworth, St. Martin’s), and Jenkins hopes the experience will
payoff in the long run. Two-time
All-CCC selection Amanda Tweedy (14.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg) is a workhorse in the
middle, with forward Heather Seyfert (12.8 ppg, 9.8 rpg) and guard Christy
Rickert (12.1 ppg) also averaging in double-figures. Field goal shooting has been the problem for the Portland school,
the Cavs have hit just .368 percent of their shots, and just .268 percent from
outside the arc. Although CU took
2-of-3 from the Coyotes last season, Albertson leads the all-time series, 11-4.
AROUND
THE CONFERENCE: Outside of the two
Albertson games this week, there are no real marquee games on the Cascade
Conference docket. Both Southern Oregon
and Oregon Tech should fare well in their trip north to Evergreen and
Northwest, while Cascade, who beat up on lowly Walla Walla this weekend, meets
Warner Pacific in a Rose City battle.
Defending champion, Eastern Oregon, is on the flip-side of the Albertson
schedule, meeting Concordia on Tuesday, and Western on Wednesday.
RADIO BROADCAST INFORMATION: A decision will be made on Monday afternoon
whether both women’s basketball games this week will be broadcast live on radio
at 1490 KCID-AM. If the games are on
the air, Mike Safford Jr. will have the pre-game show beginning at 6:55 p.m. on
each night. Whether or not the games
are on the radio, both games will be heard live on the internet at www.collegeofidaho.edu/webcam/Athletics.asx.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE LADY
‘YOTES: For game stories, statistics,
and information regarding the Albertson women’s basketball program, head to the
official site of Lady ‘Yote basketball: www.collegeofidaho.edu/athlete/wmensbasketball.htm.
- ALBERTSON -