PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 6, 2017 Only after passing a rigvrvus 172-pvint inspectivn is a pre-vwned vehicle Fvrd certifi ed, cvmplete with limited warranty cvverage and 24 - Hvur Rvadside Assistance. Keizer • 12 Month / 12,000 Mile Comprehensive Limited Warranty 3555 River Road N, Keizer (503) 463- 4853 • 7 Year / 100,000 Mile Powertrain Limited Warranty Coverage www.skylinefvrddirect.cvm KEIZERTIMES.COM LIFE OF W iley Celtics fun to watch My last year in Georgia, the four high school boys basket- ball teams I covered went a combined 41-62. None made the playoffs. Three of the programs have new coaches. Fortunately, at least one of the schools had a strong girls team and they excelled at most other sports, even win- ning state championships in wrestling, softball, golf and track and fi eld. But boys basketball was the outlier, the one sport none of the schools could fi gure out. A lot of it was demographics. Some of it was a lack of inter- est compared to other sports. Ask the parents and, of course, they’ll say it was coaching. But regardless, the product was mediocre, which means, for me, covering boys basketball has rarely been fun. Until now. Before this season, my fi rst covering McNary, I heard from several parents that they expected big things from the Celtics—a conference cham- pionship, deep playoff run. Head coach Ryan Kirch was confi dent as well and se- nior Cade Goff said the fi rst day of practice was the best fi rst day McNary’s had in his four years. Although the season is young, especially due to mul- tiple postponed games for winter weather, the Celtics are so far delivering. Coming off two blowout wins (81-51, 86-26) and then a 73-72 victory over Capi- tal, Idaho to win the Oregon Holiday Hoopfest at Summit High School in Bend Dec. 28- 30 and a Greater Valley Con- ference win over Forest Grove on Tuesday, the Celtics travel to West Salem tonight with a 10-1 record and are an unde- feated 3-0 in league play. McNary is athletic enough and can really shoot the ball but what makes the Celtics special is the way they play to- gether, constantly making the extra pass. McNary is also deep. Five different players, Goff, Adam Harvey, Matthew Ismay, Chandler Cavell and Easton Neitzel are averaging more than 10 points per game and that doesn’t include Alex Martin and Lucas Garvey, who could also easily score double digits on any given night. The Celtics are averaging 76 points per game. They’ve already scored at least 80 six times and their average mar- gin of victory is more than 25 points. They’re also good guys. Before Christmas, they spent hours shopping and then wrapping gifts for a Keizer family in need. So support the program and come to McNary and watch a game. The Celtics have at least seven more home games. Not everyone is so fortunate to be able to witness good boys bas- ketball in their town. For too long, I know I wasn’t. McNary sweeps Forest Grove By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes Easton Neitzel looked like he was shooting on a bigger rim than everyone else. The McNary senior had a career high 30 points as the Celtics defeated Forest Grove 86-68 at home on Tuesday, Jan. 3. “Guys were fi nding me when I was open,” Neitzel said. “I hit some shots and got in rhythm.” Neitzel’s 30 points included four 3-pointers. He also went 6-for-6 from the free throw line. “He didn’t take any bad shots,” McNary head coach Ryan Kirch said. “We’ve really been working on him play- ing with strength in his lower half and draw contact and play through it. We were really im- pressed with Easton tonight. He just continues to get better and plays within himself and I thought that was huge.” McNary also nearly got a triple-double from Matthew Ismay. The senior fi nished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. “I think Matt leads us with his toughness consistently over 32 minutes,” Kirch said. “Guys sort of follow suit around him.” Chandler Cavell gave the Celtics a spark off the bench in the fi rst quarter. The junior had 10 points but Forest Grove led 23-21. McNary took control in the second quarter, scoring the fi rst seven points and outscor- ing the Vikings 24-9 in the pe- KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary senior Matthew Ismay scored 14 points to go along with 10 rebounds and seven assists against Forest Grove on Tuesday, Jan. 3. riod to take a 45-32 lead into halftime. “Early on, we gave up some offensive rebounds that we shouldn’t have,” Kirch said. “They made some shots. It was a few different things but I think once we got into the second quarter, we got a little bit more rhythm going.” Ismay picked up his third foul just 30 minutes into the second half and was forced to the bench. However, he didn’t stay there long as Forest Grove pulled within 45-39 with 5:32 remaining. “When we put Matthew back in, we took him off of one of their primary guys to kind of hide him a little bit,” Kirch said. “The guys that kind of go unnoticed are Alex Martin, just how consistently he plays defensively. Lucas Garvey comes in and guards really well for us. Adam Har- vey can do the same.” Neitzel made back-to-back 3’s and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the fi - nal three minutes of the third quarter as the Celtics held on to a 65-54 lead. The Vikings opened the fourth quarter with two 3-pointers and a free throw to get within 65-61. However, Forest Grove couldn’t get any closer as Cade Goff and Ismay scored on back-to-back pos- sessions to stretch the lead to eight. McNary made its fi nal nine free throws to put away the Vikings. “We play in the toughest league and just getting one win is so diffi cult. It’s exhaust- ing,” Kirch said. Lady Celts win at the buzzer Playing on the road, Mc- Nary senior Sydney Hunter made a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Lady Celts escaped For- est Grove with a 43-41 victory. Hunter fi nished with 18 points and nine rebounds. Jaylene Montano added seven points as McNary out- scored the Vikings 12-5 in the fourth quarter. McNary travels to West Salem Friday and then hosts Sprague in a make-up game on Saturday. Girls tip off at 5:45 p.m. followed by the boys at 7:15. Present, future on display at Northwest Duals By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes ALBANY—McNary went into the Northwest Duals having not wrestled in nearly three weeks, missing three veterans with illness or in- juries, forfeiting four weight classes and had another four spots fi lled by either fi rst-year or freshmen grapplers. And the results showed as the Celtics fi nished 1-8 on Thursday, Dec. 29 and Friday, Dec. 30 at the Linn County Fair and Expo. “Our fi rst day, we wrestled some programs that are tradi- tionally very good,” McNary head coach Jason Ebbs said. “I like wrestling those programs because it teaches our kids what wrestling is supposed to look like and what they can become. We’re coaching a team that’s going to be at its best in February and we’re go- ing to get better everyday.” McNary went 0-5 on Thursday, losing to David Douglas, Sherwood, Hillsboro, Redmond and Central. But there were bright spots. Competing at 152 and 160 pounds, Wyatt Kessler went 8-1 over the two days. Af- ter getting pinned by Bryce McKinley of David Douglas to open the tournament, Kes- sler went on a roll, winning six matches by pin fall, one by technical fall 15-0 and another on a 12-0 major decision. “He commits the time that is over and above what a typical high schooler will do,” Ebbs said. “The work he’s done is what helps pay off for him.” The Celtics got their only team win on Friday, edging St. Helens 36-33 in the middle bracket. At 152 and 160 pounds, Carlos Vincent went 5-4 with four pins and a 13-5 major decision. Sean Burrows also fi nished 5-4. Wrestling in be- tween 132 and 138 pounds, he had four pins and won an- other match by forfeit. The surprise of the tourna- ment for McNary was fresh- man Javier Torres, who went 4-5 in his fi rst varsity action. At 126 pounds, Torres pinned Joshua Smith of Hillsboro for his fi rst win. Before the tournament was over, Torres earned another pin, won two matches by forfeit and lost an- other in overtime, 15-13, to Blake Hodges of Cleveland. Ebbs said Torres has a feel for the sport. “I just enjoyed watch- ing Javier,” Ebbs said. “There were several times where he was taking pressure from his opponent and instead of just falling over because he didn’t know what to do, his body felt it and he put his feet in the right place, he put his hands in the right place, he put his head in the right place and he did some things that are very diffi cult to teach. He just felt wrestling and turned bad situ- ations into better situations.” The Celtics were without Brayden Ebbs (illness), Nick Hernandez (injury) and En- rique Vincent (injury). “They’re (Hernandez and Vincent) going to be out in- jured for a little while still and hopefully make it back,” coach Ebbs said. “Those are some key players for us that help make a difference when we go to a dual match tournament.” The Celtics will continue to compete against some of the best programs in the state. McNary will begin 2017 on Friday, Jan. 6 with a tour- nament at Newberg, which placed second in the North- west Duals behind only Elk Grove. Redmond and David Douglas fi nished fourth and sixth respectively in the 36- team tournament. KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley Wyatt Kessler went 8-1 for McNary High School at the Northwest Duals on Thursday, Dec. 29 and Friday, Dec. 30 at the Linn County Fair and Expo Center. KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary freshman Javier Torres was 4-5 in his fi rst varsity wrestling tournament of the season.