MARCH 10, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE B1
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Deja vu for Celtics at North Medford
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Just like two years ago, Mc-
Nary went to North Medford
needing one win to reach the
state quarterfi nals in Portland
and again the Celtics came up
short, falling 73-67 on Friday,
March 3.
“It’s always tough,” McNary
head coach Ryan Kirch said.
“You feel bad for the kids. It’s
a group that deserved to have
that experience so you just
feel bad that they weren’t able
INSIDE: Lady
Celts fall at
No. 13 Jesuit.
Page B9
to realize that. You don’t want
them to allow one game, one
situation to determine their
success on the year, their suc-
cess on a career.”
After an even fi rst quar-
ter, the Celtics trailed 28-23
at halftime as they battled
through foul trouble with Mat-
thew Ismay, Adam Harvey and
Alex Martin all picking up two
fouls in the fi rst eight minutes.
“It wasn’t as physical as
we’re used to playing and so we
had to adjust to that a little bit,”
Kirch said. “I thought there was
some calls, on both sides, that
didn’t affect the play but it is
what it is and we’ve got to ad-
just to it.”
McNary also took too long
to adjust to North Medford’s
defense.
“I thought they were re-
ally good defensively,” Kirch
said. “They really rode us out
off the ball. I thought we got
pushed away from the hoop a
little bit. Particularly early on,
I didn’t think we adjusted to
that physical part of the play.
We were a little tentative and
didn’t get the ball to the scorer
as much as we’d liked to. But
give North credit. They’re re-
ally well coached and play great
defense.”
With 5:18 remaining in the
third quarter, the Celtics got
within 32-31 but North Med-
ford answered with a 25-9 run
to stretch its lead to 57-40 with
5:49 left in the game.
“We missed a couple shots
that we normally would make
and they made fi ve or six in
a row,” Kirch said. “They’re a
good team. They shoot the ball
well. I thought they beat us to
a couple of 50-50 balls, some
offensive rebounds.
Girls
showing
they can
wrestle, too
PAGE B2
Please see CELTICS, Page B10
Ismay 3X Defender of the Year
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Earning Greater Valley
Conference Defensive Player
of the Year was easier for Mat-
thew Ismay in his senior season
at McNary, and not because
he had already won the award
twice.
“When I was a sophomore,
everyone was just so much
bigger than me,” Ismay said. “I
would just get bullied down in
the post. It’s a lot easier now
when you’re a little bit bigger.
It means a lot to me, especially
when I was a sophomore I had
no idea that I was going to get
it but I always pride myself on
defense.”
An emphasis on defense is
exactly what McNary head
coach Ryan Kirch need-
ed when he started turning
around the team four years ago.
Ismay consistently guarded
the other team’s best player.
“It sure makes you look
good as a coach,” Kirch said.
“We always pride our pro-
gram on being able to defend
and rebound. When Matt was
a freshman is when we started
to turn things around and he’s
been as infl uential and he sets
the tone for us defensively. He’s
just a tone setter. “
Baseball
preview
PAGE B4
Please see GVC, Page B9
First Team
File
Sydney Hunter
Second Team
McNary senior Matthew Ismay was voted Greater Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year
for the third time. Ismay was also selected to the All-GVC First Team.
Second Team
Second Team
College
signings
PAGE B5 & B8
Softball
preview
PAGE B7
Kailey Doutt
Cade Goff
Adam Harvey