PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 6, 2017
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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.