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Girls basketball coaching jobs filled

Battle Ground, Mountain View, Ridgefield hires

By Paul Valencia, Columbian High School Sports Reporter
Published: June 2, 2011, 5:00pm

Joe Potter is moving from a Class 2A program to a 4A program, Carl Click will go from 1B to 2A, and Mountain View has a new high school girls basketball coach, too.

Potter, who has been the head coach at Ridgefield the past six seasons and led the Spudders to the state tournament two times, has accepted the position at Battle Ground.

“He’s got a plan of where he wants these kids to go,” said Karla Kalian, Battle Ground’s athletic director. “He brings some intensity to our program. I’m looking forward to that, to see how that works with the group.”

Battle Ground finished with a winning record this past winter, taking third in the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League.

Click, who had been an assistant with Prairie and was the head coach at King’s Way Christian the past two seasons, will take over at Ridgefield.

“We’re already having fun,” Click said, referring to summer workouts. “They’re excited. They’re working hard. It’s been a good start.”

“He definitely loves coaching girls basketball. It’s a passion of his,” said Debbie Bentler, Ridgefield’s athletic director. “He’s a very good communicator.”

He should be good in that department, the communications business. Click is an anchor for KATU Channel 2 in Portland.

Click said this was probably the only girls coaching job for which he would have left King’s Way, with Ridgefield just a 15-minute drive from home.

“That was important for my schedule,” he said.

He also has friends in Ridgefield who speak highly of the school’s athletic programs.

“It’s the right size school for me to make the next step in coaching. I love the community and the community support for athletics,” he said. “Everything just pointed toward a great experience in coaching.”

Over at Mountain View, the Thunder’s boys and girls tennis coach, Mat Clark, is picking up a third sport.

“I’ve always hoped I’d get back into it,” Clark said of basketball.

An English teacher at Mountain View, Clark previously coached the La Center boys team and was a head girls coach in Texas. He also plans on continuing with his fall and spring sports.

“Tennis and basketball have always been my things,” Clark said. “I’m glad I got the chance to do this one more time.”

Mountain View, with a young team, finished second in the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League last year and advanced to the bi-district tournament.

“Hopefully, we can make a district final and maybe get out of regionals,” Clark said. “That’s a realistic goal for us. I also want the kids to get better and have a good time, too.”

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Adam Mathieson, Mountain View’s athletic director, is impressed with Clark’s organizational skills and his strength in communicating with people.

“Those are important things,” Mathieson said.

He also said it was important to find a qualified coach on campus.

“It’s important for the stability of the program to move forward with an in-building coach,” Mathieson said.

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Columbian High School Sports Reporter