CC Notebook: Key gets shot at varsity coaching stint
Friday, December 24, 2004 6:51 PM PST
By Rick McCorkle
Printable version
E-mail this articleAfter 14 years as a junior varsity boys' basketball coach at Portland's Cleveland High, former Lower Columbia College standout Robert Key is getting his first taste of being a head varsity coach.
The 38-year-old Key is coaching where he grew up, in North Portland at Roosevelt High. Key didn't attend Roosevelt, but moved to Southeast Portland where he was a three-sport star at Marshall High.
Despite that, Key's return to Roosevelt has reunited him with families of old friends.
"There's seven kids in the basketball program who are kids of people I went to middle school with," Key said in a story that appeared in the Portland Tribune. "It's like a big reunion when we have a game. That makes it really fun."
After high school, Key attended LCC from 1984-86 and played men's basketball. He is still ranked seventh in single-season free throw percentage (96-of-118, 81.4 percent) and eighth in two-year scoring (982 points, 18.53 points per game) in Red Devils' history.
Key later played basketball at Western Oregon University, got a tryout with the Yakima Sun Kings of the Continental Basketball Association and was nearly signed to play professional baseball as an outfielder in the Cincinnati Reds organization.
At age 25, Key received an opportunity to coach at Cleveland.
"I knew the game as an athlete but not really as a coach," he said. "That took a couple of years to grow into."
Roosevelt, which went 12-12 last season (seventh place in the Portland Interscholastic League with a 7-11 record), hasn't been to the state playoffs since 1985. The Roughriders are 2-4, 0-2 league this season, and Key has built a small but quick team around seniors Randy Johnson and Nate Roberts. The duo combined to average 17 points per game last season.
"I just want these guys to compete to their ability," he added.
GR coach Sauers dies
Kelso High graduate and Green River College tennis coach Steve Sauers, who coached the Gators to more than 900 victories, died Dec. 17 at the Valley Medical Center in Renton.
The 64-year-old Sauers suffered a major stroke a week prior to his death.
Sauers, who graduated from Kelso in 1958 and Lower Columbia College in 1960, taught in the Green River business department since 1966. He started the men's tennis program at the college in 1970 and formed a women's program in 1979.
During his coaching tenure at Green River, Sauers won 19 men's championships and 16 women's titles, and had 14 runner-up finishes while compiling an overall record of 920-171. According to NWAACC statistics, Sauers' 34 years of coaching and 35 NWAACC titles are both records for all sports. In addition, he earned 20 NWAACC Coach of the Year honors.
Among Sauers' players through the years was R.A. Long High graduate Brian Jensen, who won the NWAACC men's first singles and first doubles titles in 1994 and '95. Jensen teamed with Than Nguyen in 1994 and with Todd Lash in '95.
Sauers is survived by his wife, Deb, and two sons.
LCC softball hosts clinic
A softball hitting clinic for girls ages 13-18, hosted by the six-time NWAACC champion Lower Columbia College softball team, will be held Jan. 4 at The Kage adjacent to Tam O'Shanter Park.
The clinic will be held from 6 to 9 p.m., and cost is $35.
Clinicians include LCC coach Tim Mackin, University of Missouri coach Ty Singleton, Utah State University assistant coach Todd Bradley and professional player Karrie Ryder.
Singleton, who played baseball at LCC in 1990, begins his third season as the head coach at Missouri. He has a 60-46 record in two seasons including a 29-26 record last season and a trip to the NCAA Regional Championships. Prior to joining the Missouri staff, Singleton had a 75-45 record as head coach at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La.
Bradley, a former head coach at Western Baptist College in Salem, joined the Utah State staff in July after guiding the Warriors to a 20-25 record. Prior to his assignment at Western Baptist, Bradley spent four seasons at Blue Mountain College in Pendleton, where he was responsible for starting the school's softball program.
Bradley is serving at Utah State under former Mount Hood College softball coach Lonny Sargent, who was promoted from assistant coach to head coach in July. Former Mount Hood pitcher Alexis Haddenfeld inked a letter of intent at Utah State, where she will be a junior this spring.
For details about the clinic, call Mackin at 957-1205.
Driver leads Clark attack
Woodland High grad Brittany Driver has been one of the few bright spots for the Clark College women's basketball team during the preseason.
Driver, a sophomore guard, is third on the Penguins in scoring (9.4 points) and leads the team in rebounding (6.4) and assists (2.2). She knocked down 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 60-50 loss to Seattle, and netted 10 points and pulled down 11 caroms in a 57-44 loss to Chemeketa.
Kalama's Melissa Brown is a reserve guard averaging 2.3 points and 2.3 rebounds for Clark, now 2-9.
Rick McCorkle is a sportswriter for The Daily News. He can be reached at 577-2529 or rickmc@tdn.com
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