CLARENDON COLLEGE LADY BULLDOGS SCHEDULE Date Opponent Nov. 2 @ Southwestern College Nov. 5 Glendale Community College Nov. 6 Trinidad State Junior College Nov. 8 @ Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa Nov. 9 @ Western Oklahoma State Nov. 16 @ Otero Junior College, Colorado Nov. 18 @ Fort Scott Community College, Kansas Nov. 19 @ Ottawa University, Kansas Nov. 20 Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa Nov. 26 @ Trinidad State Junior College, Colorado Nov. 27 @ Otero Junior College, Colorado Dec. 1 @ Western Texas College Dec. 4 Odessa College
Time 5:30 p.m. 6 p.m. 2 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 5 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 5:45 p.m. 2 p.m.
Dec. 6 Dec. 7 Dec. 10 Dec. 11 Jan. 2 Jan. 8 Jan. 10 Jan. 13 Jan. 20 Jan. 24 Jan. 27 Jan. 31 Feb. 7 Feb. 10 Feb. 14 Feb. 21 Feb. 24
Redland Community College Western Oklahoma State @ Glendale Community College, Arizona @ Chandler-Gilbert Community College, AZ Otero Junior College Midland College @ Frank Phillips College South Plains College Howard College @ New Mexico Junior College Western Texas College @ Odessa College @ Midland College Frank Phillips College @ South Plains College @ Howard College New Mexico Junior College
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Frank Phillips Men
Plainsmen expect faster start By LEE PASSMORE After a decade leading the Frank Phillips College men’s team, Chris Hackett had his most eventful year in 2021. He’s thinking that could pay off through 2022, considering who’s returning for the Plainsmen this season. After a 14-10 record and reaching the Region V Tournament quarterfinals, there’s every reason to believe they can at least duplicate that this winter. Phillips returns eight players from last season, including two who scored in double figures. Hackett will take on double duty this season as he was named the school’s athletic director during the summer. But he thinks the coaching end of things could be especially rewarding this season. “The one thing that was good last year was that we basically had the whole first semester to get guys up to speed,” Hackett said. “Normally we get into it pretty quick, and last year we had 10 freshmen. It was good to have that extra time, because we didn’t have to play a real game until January.” Coach Chris Hackett This November, FPC will play 12 games as a tune-up for Western Junior College Athletic Conference play, which starts Dec. 1 when the Plainsmen visit New Mexico Military Institute. They’ll open their home conference schedule against Midland College on Dec. 4. That’s in stark contrast to last season, which started in January due to COVID-19 and immediately began with conference play. Phillips won’t enter WJCAC play nearly as “cold” as last season. “It gives you a chance to see a little bit different styles and a few more opportunities to play and get the new guys up to speed in what you’re doing against real competition,” Hackett said. “Practice is great, but it’s not a real good judge of where you really are until you actually go play somebody.” The Plainsmen finished fifth in the conference last season, beating NMMI in the first round of regionals before losing to eventual region champion Western Texas College. Among WJCAC teams, few can boast the type of returning experience FPC will have. That, and last year’s late surge, only heightens expectations 2021-2022 Panhandle-Plains Basketball
D.J. Richardson
C.J. Ray
Jovan Savic
Malik Whitaker
Jaheim Tanksley
Adeola Seun
for this season. “I think we’re probably going to have a really good start to the season because we’re going to get to where we’re going to be a lot quicker than some of the teams with a lot of new faces,” Hackett said. “I don’t know that our ceiling is going to be much higher in December. We’re not going to see the improvement other teams are going to see, because we’ve kind of already done that. “I think we’ll be good early. How much better we get depends on how we work and how guys buy in. The guys who are coming back have already had that big jump.” The Plainsmen do lose their leading scorer from last season, Lance Amir Paul, who averaged 16.2 points a game. But Hackett thinks his team will be very balanced up front and in the backcourt. Furthermore, he doesn’t believe the team has a glaring weakness that opponents can exploit, other than perhaps a lack of offensive rebounding. “We’ve got some good pieces and some guys who have played (Continued on next page)
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