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Friday, November 21, 2008
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Raiders look to sophs
By BRYCE CLOUTIER Sports Writer Late last season the Central Lakes College Raiders women's basketball team placed its foot firmly in Cinderella's slipper. CLC danced to the national tournament in New York by winning the Region 13B championship in addition to undergoing a midseason coaching change.
When Dennis Eastman took over the team seven games into the season few would have given CLC a chance to reach the heights it did by season's end.
With the return of five sophomores, who played key roles on last year's team, Eastman and the Raiders look forward to capitalizing on past success and heightened expectations.
"We have to step back and re-evaluate our goals in relation to what we are looking for out of this year," Eastman said. "It was an unbelievable season (last year) and I don't know if we can match that emotionally. Things really fell into place last year and all of a sudden we ended up in Ithaca, N.Y., in the national tournament.
"Right now we are going to go through the normal steps in making our goals. We want to make it to the state tournament, win our division, and finish in the top spot in the North."
Sophomores returning include leading scorer Becky Skiba (forward-center. In addition, CLC returns the talented guard duo of Brandi Cresap and Brittany Miller and forwards Cayla Collison and Erika Saima.
"We have five returning players out of the nine from last season," Eastman said. "We have two starters back and two more that have played a lot so we have some people back with a lot of experience and that's something I haven't had for a long time.
"All of the sophomores are going to need to contribute, especially going into our first game because we have three players that are injured and we will be playing with seven. We need those sophomores to use the leadership and experience they gained from last year."
The Raiders also look for help from the freshmen class, which includes forwards Stephanie Neugebauer and Cassie Pearson, center Alexa Hoffman and guards Chelsea Christensen and Nikki Fiske.
"We need to work on learning our offense and implementing our freshmen into what we are doing," Eastman said. "When kids come in they don't always understand the speed of the game from high school to college is different and it will be about getting them up to that speed in these first games."
CLC Raiders
Head coach: Dennis Eastman, 16th season
CLC career record: 192-189 (.504)
2007-2008 season: 6-6 North Division, 10-20 overall, fourth in MCAC state tournament, Region 13B champion, eighth in NJCAA tournament
Volunteer assistant coaches: Pam Eastman, Megan Eastman
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The transition should be eased with the help of the sophomores as they use their experiences from last season to help their new teammates become acquainted to the college game.
"Coming in as a freshman it can be a little nerve-wracking because it is a lot more intense than high school," Skiba said. "Because we have five sophomores, who already know how it's going to be, it really puts us at a good advantage in that we know what to expect and can show the freshmen how to play at the college level."
Raiders roster
Sophomores:
Brandi Cresap, guard, 5-7, Perham
Cayla Collison, forward, 5-8, Verndale
Brittany Miller, guard, 5-7, Staples-Motley
Erika Saima, forward, 5-7, Staples-Motley
Becky Skiba, center-forward, 5-11, Onamia
Freshmen
Stephanie Neugebauer, forward, 5-9, Brainerd
Nikki Fiske, guard, 5-4, Aitkin
Alexa Hoffman, center, 6-0, Wadena-Deer Creek
Cassie Pearson, center-forward, 5-10, Staples-Motley
Chelsey Christensen, guard, 5-7, Hill City
CLC schedule
November
21: Central Lakes Fall Classic, 6 p.m.
22: Central Lakes Fall Classic, 4 p.m.
December
2: at MSCTC-Fergus Falls, 6 p.m.
5: Anoka-Ramsey, 6 p.m.
6: Minneapolis, 1 p.m.
12: at Minnesota West, 6 p.m.
13: at Ridgewater, 1 p.m.
19: Central Lakes Classic, 6 p.m.
20: Central lakes Classic, 4 p.m.
January
2: Central Lakes Invitational, 6 p.m.
3: Central Lakes Invitational, 4 p.m.
7: Itasca, 6 p.m.
10: at Mesabi Range, 1 p.m.
16: Rainy River, 6 p.m.
17: Hibbing, 1 p.m.
21: Northland, 6 p.m.
24: at Vermilion, 1 p.m.
28: Fond du Lac, 6 p.m.
31: at Hibbing, 1 p.m.
February
6: Mesabi Range, 6 p.m.
7: Vermilion, 1 p.m.
11: at Northland, 6 p.m.
14: at Rainy River, 1 p.m.
18: at Fond du Lac, 6 p.m.
21: at Itasca, 1 p.m.
27-March 1: MCCC state tournament, Willmar
March
6 -7: Region 13B tournament, TBA
12-14: National tournament, Rochester
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