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