PAGE A12, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 5, 2016
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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