Document text
SATURDAY December 6, 2003 - Subscribe - Contact Us Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 28, 2003 Flagship Inn Classic By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Youth. One word summarizes the biggest strength and biggest weakness for this year's Southern Oregon University basketball team. "We were young last year and most of the kids who came in our freshmen and sophomores," Head Coach Brian McDermott explained. "We really didn't get old." The squad - comprised of four juniors, eight sophomores and one freshman - enters this weekend's Flagship Inn Classic with a 3-4 preseason record. Last year, the 8-22 team had as many wins in all of November and December. "This tournament, we'll have four really good teams," McDermott said. "I would think they'll be some very competitive games." SOU opens its home schedule when No. 2 Oregon Tech, former Raider archrival Western Oregon and NCAA Div. III Willamette University converge on McNeal Pavilion for games tonight and Saturday night. "We'd like to play well enough so that people will want to come back and see us," McDermott said. "We don't have quite as much experience as we'd like but we'll overcome that. I think we'll get better. It takes awhile." Southern has played a brutal preseason schedule, racking up more games against tougher teams than in years past. The results, however, have been better. Averaging 81 points-per-game with five players sporting double-digit marks, the team's troubles have come from inexperience, not lack of skill. "I don't think there's necessarily any one problem," McDermott said. "It's just being consistent and, when you're young with quite a few new people, it'll happen. It's learning what our strengths are." But the strength of Southern's recruiting class coupled with returners landed the team the fourth-place rank in the Cascade Conference preseason coaches poll earlier this month. Last year, the Raiders were marked for third, then failed to qualify for the conference tournament. The skills of the 2003-04 squad appear already to indicate this season will feature a much-improved Raider squad. True-freshman Jay Mayernik has proven to be a scoring sensation at post, averaging 14.2 points-per-game through the team's first five contests, while sophomore transfer Shea Washington has scored at least 13 points in each of Southern's seven games this season. But the truly great thing about the Raiders this year is that anyone can score. "We shoot the ball OK, but we don't have those one or two lights-out shooters," McDermott said. "We have a bunch of guys who can do it. We spread it around." This weekend, SOU will want to spread out the work. By the close of the Classic, the Raiders will have played six games in 11 days, taking on everyone from NCAA Division I squad Portland State to virtually unknown San Jose Christian. "We're playing so many new people that it's going to take awhile to get them to play how we want," McDermott said. "But we've been getting better and better every game." The Southern Oregon Classic opens at 5:30 p.m. tonight when OIT faces Western. The Raiders tip off against Willamette at 7:30 p.m. in McNeal Pavilion. Action continues on Saturday night as well. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Road Cams