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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2016)
PAGE A12, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 5, 2016 Your One Stop Shop for Brakes, Tires & Batteries. 3555 River Rd N, Keizer • (503) 304- 7555 www.QuickLane.com We service all makes & models. No appointments needed. KEIZERTIMES.COM Saxons fend off Lady Celts 2nd time KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Celt Alex Martin faces down a North Salem High School player in the game Tuesday, Jan. 26. The Celts won 61-34, but it was the team’s only win of the past three games. Losses douse boys’ GVC title hopes KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald McNary’s Paige Downer slips between two Saxon defenders in the game Tuesday, Feb. 2. The Lady Celts lost 67-51. By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes When the McNary High School girls varsity basketball team met South Salem High School Tuesday, Feb. 2, nothing less than a piece of the Greater Valley Conference title was on the line. A 67-51 win for the Saxons means they now sit alone atop the GVC pile. McNary settles into second on the loss. Aside from a brief 2-0 lead to start the game, McNary found itself playing catch-up the rest of the night. The Celtics’ fi rst possessions of the game were troubled, but not disastrous. More than once, one of the McNary girls attacked the Saxons’ zone defense and got tangled up in traffi c, leading to turnovers. When the Keizer team tried attacking from the perimeter, the shots wouldn’t fall. The result was a 29-15 lead for South by the end of the fi rst quarter. South Salem’s lead was cut to eight points, 36-28, by halftime, but McNary would never get any closer. The loss snapped a six-game win streak for the Celts. Senior Reina Strand led the team with 15 points. Madi Hingston had 11. The Lady Celts set the stage for the show- down with South Salem by taking a pair of wins over North Salem and Forest Grove high Please see GIRLS, Page A13 By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes Forest Grove High School’s boys varsity basket- ball team stunned the Celtics with a 59-51 win Friday, Jan. 29. “It was good to have a couple of days off after it hap- pened,” said Trent Van Cleave, a McNary senior. “We’re all right, and it may help us in the long run.” The loss to the Vikings, coupled with a 53-52 loss to South Salem High School Tuesday, Feb. 2, means the Celtic path to sharing the league championship is now in the hands of others, and more than a little unlikely. The Saxons would have to lose three of their remaining games and McNary would have to win out the season. To be sure, the Celts gave the Saxons a run for their money. McNary trailed 15-6 after one quarter and had only just begun to chip away at the lead by halftime. In the third quarter, the Celts rallied and outscored South 18-11 to take a 39-38 lead. With the score achingly close, South outshot McNary 15-13 in the fi nal period to take the win. In the game with Forest Grove, the Celtics had things going their way through three quarters. McNary leapt out to a 14-4 lead after the fi rst frame and was ahead 46-35 at the top of the fourth quarter. “In the fi rst half, we were being the aggressors, then we stopped and let (Forest Grove) pick the tempo,” Van Cleave said. The Vikings caught fi re and began shooting out the lights in the fourth quarter. Celt Alex Martin said part of the blame fell on Celtic shoulders. “Being tentative led to turnovers and fastbreak points for them,” said Martin. At the fi nal buzzer, the Vi- kings had outshot the Celts 24-5 for the quarter and walked away with the win. Forest Grove’s spark caught the Keizer team off-guard, said Ryan Kirch, McNary head coach. “That put us on our heels and suddenly we were playing not-to-lose as opposed to play- ing to win,” Kirch said. “We Please see BOYS, Page A13 Titans escape with pool wins KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Celt Brayden Ebbs tries to switch North Salem’s Adan Ramos to his back during the dual meet Thursday, Jan. 28. Mat squad wins heated dual By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes McNary High School’s var- sity wrestling team was hoping for a big night Thursday, Feb. 4. The Celtics were set to host Forest Grove and Sprague high schools in a three-way dual meet that was also the last of the season before the district competition. “We need to be on our game or Forest Grove will fi nd a way to beat us,” said Jason Ebbs, Mc- Nary head coach. “The fl ip side of that is, if we win, we turn around and face Sprague for the league title.” The Olys and Celtics were the only two undefeated teams in the Greater Valley Confer- ence headed into the big event. They’d also met at the Oregon Classic a few weeks ago and Sprague came out on top. “That was a tough tourna- ment and I don’t think we had our best line-up on the mat,” Ebbs said. “We’ll be making some changes this time around in hope of turning around the results.” Confi dence was going to play a big role in the outcome said Celt senior Kyle Bonn. “People look at Sprague as one of the toughest teams around, but we need the con- fi dence to look at them as just another group of high school guys like us. We have the ability to beat them on any day,” Bonn said. Please see MAT, Page A14 KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Above: McNary’s Evan Alger swims the 200 free in competition against the West Salem High School Titans Thursday, Jan. 28. Below: Celt Kylie McCarty en route to winning the 200 IM. The McNary High School varsity swimming teams put up valiant efforts in a meet with West Salem High School Thursday, Jan. 28, but stacked and talented Titan teams won the day. The Celtic girls lost their side of the meet 92-78 and the McNary boys lost 93-76. Race wins were few and far between for the Celts, but the teams picked up enough points down the stretch to keep it from being a blowout. Winning swimmers for the girls were: Kylie McCarty in the 200 individual medley (IM) in 2:33.83; Marissa Kuch in the 50 free in 25.35 and the 100 free in 1:03.08; and Sarah Eckert, Samantha Williams, Abby McCoy and Kuch in the 400 free relay in 4:06.37. Second and third place fi n- ishers were: Anjelica Glassey, Kiana Briones, Emily Alger Please see SWIM, Page A13
