PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 3, 2017
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One win from Portland
Celtics shoot past Wilson in fi lst lound
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary (19-6, 11-5) is
one win away from the goal it
set back in November before
the season started—the state
quarterfi nals in the Chiles
Center on the campus of the
University of Portland.
The Celtics defeated Wil-
son 77-65 on Tuesday, Feb. 28
in the fi rst round of the 6A
boys basketball state tourna-
ment.
Up next is a long bus ride
to North Medford (20-5, 11-
1), a trip familiar to McNary.
The Celtics lost there in the
second round of the 2015
state playoffs.
“This is a big game,” Mc-
Nary senior Matthew Ismay
said. “It gives me memories
of sophomore year. We went
down to North Medford,
same exact situation, and had
a loss in a close game.”
The two teams were even
seeded the same, North Med-
ford—7 and McNary—10.
This season, the Celtics and
Black Tornadoes share two
common opponents. North
Medford defeated Oregon
City 59-46 in the fi rst round
of the state tournament. Mc-
Nary blew out Oregon City
85-54 but that was back in
December in just the Celtics
second game. North Med-
ford also edged Forest Grove
by one point while McNary
split with the Vikings, winning
easily at home and losing by
three on the road.
“It’s going to be a heck
of a ball game,” McNary
head coach Ryan Kirch said.
“They’re well coached and
have a lot of depth. They run
some stuff similar to us offen-
sively. We’ve just got to play.
You get to this point and all
teams can play. It’s the 50-50
ball here and there. It’s ev-
erybody boxing out for a re-
bound, all these little things
that are the difference.”
The Celtics got past Wil-
son by making their fi rst fi ve
KEIZERTIMES/Delek Wiley
McNaly sophomole Enlique Vincent placed thild in the state at
120 pounds on Satulday, Feb. 25 in Poltland.
Vincent takes
third at state
KEIZERTIMES/Delek Wiley
McNaly seniol Cade Goff dlives past a Wilson defendel on his way to 20 points, foul lebounds
and foul assists in a 77-65 victoly in the fi lst lound of the state toulnament.
3-point attempts—one by
Cade Goff and two each from
Easton Neitzel and Alex Mar-
tin to take a quick 15-4 lead.
McNary made eight 3-point-
ers in the fi rst half and 11 in
the game.
“The game plan is always
to come out with energy and
intensity,” Kirch said.
“Our guys if they feel like
they’re in rhythm can shoot
the ball and that’s what hap-
pened. We did an excellent
job of just moving the ball, we
attacked off the dribble and
found Easton and Alex. We
just did a really nice job shar-
ing the ball.”
The Celtics fi nished with
21 assists. Ismay had seven to
go along with six rebounds.
“They were really collaps-
ing on the drive and I was able
to get a bunch of assists in the
fi rst quarter,” said Ismay, who
scored all 12 of his points in
the second half. “We were try-
ing to get to the rim more be-
cause in the fi rst half, we were
hitting 3’s in the beginning
but later we kind of started
settling for them.”
McNary led 30-21 at in-
termission. Wilson made a
3-pointer to get within 30-
24 early in the second half
but that’s as close as the Tro-
jans could get as the Celtics
stretched their lead to 50-38
on an Adam Harvey 3-pointer
at the end of the third quarter.
“I was really impressed with
more than anything with how
we fi nished the game, being
able to fi nish with confi dence,
not passively, strong at the rim,
making free throws late in the
game,” Kirch said. “That’s a re-
ally good step for us.”
Please see FIRST, Page 9
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Wrestling in the state tour-
nament for the fi rst time, Mc-
Nary sophomore Enrique Vin-
cent remembered the words
of teammate Sean Burrows—
“Whatever happens, just smile.”
Vincent had plenty to smile
about as he placed third at 120
pounds Saturday, Feb. 24 at
Memorial Coliseum in Port-
land.
Vincent claimed he entered
the tournament a “little intimi-
dated and scared” but it cer-
tainly didn’t show as he won
his fi rst match by a 15-2 major
decision and his second by a
19-4 technical fall.
“After maybe the fi rst round
of my fi rst match, I started to
get used to it,” Vincent said. “I
had Devin (Reynolds), my as-
sistant coach, I had his voice in
my head ‘this is just a tourna-
ment that they call state’ just
over and over so I was able to
work with that.”
In the quarterfi nals, Vincent
faced his fi rst challenge. Trailing
Newberg junior Zach Irving
late in the third period, Vincent
was able to turn the match into
a scramble and earn a pin with
only 11 seconds remaining.
“I was on my stomach and I
looked at the clock and saw 45
seconds,” Vincent said. “It was
all or nothing. I was lucky to
stick him.”
Vincent got another New-
berg wrestler in the semifi -
nals, sophomore Christopher
Strange, and lost 10-6.
“I wasn’t mentally pre-
pared,” Vincent said. “I wasn’t
taking as many shots. I wasn’t
being as aggressive as I usually
am. It was hard to accept the
loss because I knew I wasn’t
wrestling like I usually wrestle.
I had to get over that real quick
so I could get ready for my
next match.”
Please see STATE, Page 9
Whiteaker Middle tops rival Claggett Creek
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
With 10 lead changes
and two matches decided in
overtime, Whiteaker Mid-
dle School narrowly edged
Claggett Creek 45-41 on
Thursday, Feb. 23.
Wrestling under a spotlight
and large crowd at McNary
High School, Whiteaker sev-
enth grader Aldo Villalvazo
(195) got a pin in the fi rst
period to seal the win for the
Wolverines.
“He (Villalvazo) was a fi rst-
year kid for us that’s giving the
sport a try,” Whiteaker head
coach Kelly Hafer said. “That
was really encouraging to see
him get a pin and get to be
the hero by winning that last
match. It really was a team ef-
fort to get to that point where
he was in position to make
that happen.”
Both Matthew Araiza and
Nick Martin won in overtime.
At 85 pounds, Araiza came out
on top 14-12. Martin then
won 4-2 at 90 pounds.
“I really appreciated Nick
Martin and Matthew Araiza
getting overtime wins,” Hafer
said. “That takes a lot of effort
and most middle schoolers
aren’t used to having to win in
overtime. It’s rare for matches
to go that long.”
KEIZERTIMES/Delek Wiley
Seventh gladel Aldo Villalvazo got a pin in the fi lst peliod to seal the win fol Whiteakel. Right,
top, Whiteakel wlestlel Nick Maltin won in oveltime, and bottom, Claggett Cleek eighth gladel
Glady Bullows pins his opponent.
Hafer was also proud of
Jeremiah Ratliff and Chad
Croucher, who both lost by
major decision but were able
to avoid getting pinned, saving
the team four points.
Claggett Creek won four
matches by pin fall—Brandon
Blanco (75), Grady Burrows
(95), Joey Hernandez (132)
and Jayden Gomez (175).
The 95 pound match ap-
peared it might go another
way as Whiteaker eighth grad-
er Cameron Parks got Bur-
rows in a cradle and near fall
at the end of the fi rst period.
However, Burrows was able to
recover and pin Parks in the
second period.
“It was a good experience
having everyone watching
you in the middle of the mat,”
Burrows said.
“I knew he liked cradles
and he got me in one.”
Burrows and Parks know
each other well, wrestling on
the Celtic Mat Club.
“Both are really good
friends and really good wres-
tlers and that was a really good
match,” CCMS head coach
Aaron Carr said. “That’s good
for them, both being good
wrestlers, it’s always good to
wrestle someone else that’s
good.”
Please see RIVAL, Page 9