PAGE 12, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 16, 2015
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Mat men make most of shots at Don York
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
In a busy week for the Mc-
Nary High School wrestling
team, the Celtics showed no
signs of slowing down.
The brightest spots in a
week of good news for Mc-
Nary were a number of con-
fi dence-boosting placements
at the annual Don York Invi-
tational.
“The biggest thing is I
came out of it believing in
myself more,” said Sean Bur-
rows, who took second at the
tournament. “I used to have
a big issue with kids who are
a lot stronger because they
are built differently, but I can
overcome it.”
Burrows pinned his way to
the semifi nals where he drew
Cleveland High School’s Jun-
pei Hunt, an opponent he’d
been keeping track of.
“We were pretty close in
skill level and we worked each
other pretty hard the entire
match. We were both dog tired
at the end,” said Burrows, who
won in a 17-9 major decision.
Burrows fell to Centen-
nial’s Tyler Wagner 14-6 in the
fi rst place match.
Junior Joey Kibbey made it
his mission to get to the fi nals
match this year after falling
short of his own expectations
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Left: Celt Joey Kibbey gets a near-fall in his match with McKay’s
Shane Tennis. Above: Sophomore Carlos Vincent narrowly
avoids a shot by Bryce Clifton.
as a freshman and sophomore.
“I was real close both years,
but I went in this time saying
I’m going to the fi nals,” said
Kibbey.
That’s precisely what he
did. Two wins on points and
two byes got him to the fi nals
where he faced Forest Grove
high School’s Lucas Higgin-
botham.
“I got a bit nervous head-
ing into the match and I did
okay in the fi rst round, but
he’s pure muscle and turned
me in an arm bar in the sec-
ond round,” Kibbey said.
He took second place af-
ter getting pinned in the fi nal
seconds of the round.
Taran Purkey was the
team’s other second place fi n-
isher.
Senior Alvarro Venegas
continued his 22-0 romp over,
under, around and through all
comers to take fi rst for the
Celts at 195 pounds. He led a
stacked decked of top fi nishers
for the Celtics at Don York.
McNary also posted a
number of third place fi nish-
ers including Riley Repp, Jor-
dan Cagle and Carlos Vincent.
Vincent found himself in
an interesting situation. Two
wins put him in the quarter-
fi nals against Ryan Steen of
Pendleton High School, but
Steen won in a major decision
that put him out of competi-
tion for the fi nals. However,
Vincent wrestled his way back
from the consolation brackets
to face Steen again for third
place.
“I knew he was a tough,
hard-headed dude. I usually
try to be pretty explosive and
try to intimidate the other
guy, but he wasn’t having it,”
Please see YORK, Page 13
Boys move forward
with mark on backs
Photo courtesy J&H Photo
Lady Celt Vanessa Hayes puts up a shot under heavy coverage in the girls varsity basketball
game with Sprague High School Friday, Jan. 9.
Girls fall to Saxons, trounce Olys
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
McNary High School’s girls varsity basket-
ball team won one and lost one last week, both
by wide margins.
The Lady Celts (3-2 in the Greater Valley
Conference) lost to South Salem High School
63-32 Tuesday, Jan. 6, and thumped Sprague
High School 68-12 three days later.
In regard to the South game, Head Coach
Derick Handley said the tone was set early on.
“Their game plan was to jump on us and
put us down early and that’s what they did,”
Handley said.
The Keizer team was down 17-2 after the
fi rst frame. Even though McNary outscored
the Saxons 14-13 in the second period, it was
already too little too late.
“We did a good job of breaking their press,
but the rebounding killed us that game,” said
McNary’s Sydney Hunter, who had seven
points against the Saxons. “We went in with a
good mindset, but we got nervous right away.”
Junior Madi Hingston put up more than
a third of the Celtics’ points with 12; Kaelie
Flores had seven; and Kailey Doutt put in six.
“It was really a matter of them capitalizing
on every transition and that hurt our confi -
dence,” Hingston said. “When we got out in
the game with Sprague on Friday, I think we
took out a lot of aggression on them.”
Despite the lopsided 68-12 score, Handley
thought the team was capable of more in the
fi rst half against the Olys.
“We had a lot of communication break-
Please see GIRLS, Page 13
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The McNary High School
boys varsity basketball team
went from predator to prey
now that the team is leading
the Greater Valley Conference.
“It’s a great position to be
in but new for us and a new
learning experience for our
guys,” said Ryan Kirch, Mc-
Nary head coach. “We went
into the South Salem game
confi dent, not arrogant, and
trusted our game plan.”
McNary soared to the top
of the GVC with a 67-60 win
over South Salem High School
Tuesday, Jan. 6. However, the
win ups the ante for every
game going forward.
“We need to know that ev-
ery team is coming for us and
we need everyone’s best game,”
said junior Harry Cavell, who
went 6 for 6 at the free throw
line, in the fi nal minute of the
game with the Saxons, to help
McNary pull away.
Cavell put in 17 points in
the game overall, but the Celts
were led by senior Tregg Peter-
son who poured in 26 points
against the Saxons. McNary
took a lead it never relinquished
in the second frame against the
Saxons, but were under fi re for
most of the second half.
“South scores so quickly,
but we were able to slow things
down and create some great
mismatches with Tregg, Harry
and Devon (Dunagan) out on
the court,” Kirch said.
It was the fi rst time McNary
beat the Saxons since before
Dunagan, a senior, joined the
program as a freshman, and he’s
well aware of the mark Mc-
Nary now has on its back.
“From here on out, teams
don’t have much to lose by
leaving everything on the court
against us. We’ll be expected to
win and there’s more pressure
on our shoulders because of it,”
Dunagan said.
In the wake of the big win,
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
McNary’s Drew McHugh leaps up for a lay-in in the Celts’ game
with South Salem High School Tuesday, Jan. 13.
Kirch had hoped to see the
team reach the same level of
preparation and focus against
Sprague High School Friday,
Jan. 9. The result was middling,
he said.
“It took us 18 minutes to
start playing with intensity on
defense,” Kirch said.
By the end of the fi rst frame,
McNary led 19-15 and out-
scored the Olys 21-18 in the
second quarter. But the differ-
ence in the Celtic defense be-
came glaringly obvious in the
second half. The Celts put in
39 points to the Olys’ 14. The
Celtics won 79-47.
“We got the stops in the
second half and rattled them
because they are a young team
and, then, we just went and
scored,” said Dunagan, who
went 8 of 8 from the fi eld.
Peterson, who is averaging
more than 16 points per game,
led the team with 21; Duna-
gan had 18; Trent Van Cleave
had 15; Cavell had 12; Mathew
Ismay had eight points; Cole
Thomas and Wyatt Grine had
two each and Jason Sperle hit
one from the foul line.
The biggest challenge for
the team in the weeks ahead
will likely be in its ability to
keep an even keel.
“We have to get ready for
every opponent no matter who
it is,” said Cavell.