PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 28, 2017
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Doran to lead girls basketball program
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary’s new girls basket-
ball coach Liz Doran’s tough-
est question at an introductory
meeting last week didn’t come
from the press but from one of
her future players—“Are there
any teams in our league that
you don’t like?”
“No, I’m not going there,”
replied Doran after the room
erupted in laughter.
Doran graduated from
Crescent Valley High School
in 2005 back when the Lady
Raiders and McNary played
in the same conference.
“We lost a heartbreaker
here my senior year that I still
remember,” she said.
Doran was a McDonald’s
All-American nominee as a
senior at Crescent Valley, av-
eraging 19.4 points per game
and represented her graduat-
ing class as their valedictorian.
Doran signed with Santa
Clara University after high
school, starting 61 games and
leading the team in 3-pointers
her junior and senior seasons.
In the classroom, she gradu-
ated summa cum laude with a
3.95 GPA in bioengineering.
After serving as an assistant
girls basketball coach at Mos-
cow High School in Idaho
from 2009-2010, Doran re-
turned to her alma mater to
become an assistant at Cres-
cent Valley.
After two seasons, Doran
was set to become head coach
of the girls program but in-
stead jumped at the opportu-
nity to join the staff at Texas
A&M International Univer-
sity, a Division-II program in
Laredo.
“At the time it was just one
of those things that I couldn’t
turn down,” Doran said. “It
was hard to leave because I
was really excited to coach the
high school team but it was an
opportunity where I thought
I could really build my resume
and learn more about basket-
ball.”
Doran said she enjoyed
coaching in college but got
the itch to be a teacher and a
coach, so after four years she
returned to Corvallis and is
currently getting her masters
of science and education at
Oregon State.
“I think the high school
level is meant for me,” Doran
said. “I love building basketball
skills and basketball smarts but
I also love the life lessons that
you can learn through basket-
ball and building character,
work ethic that will help you
in every area.”
At McNary, Doran is re-
placing Derick Handley, who
stepped down at the end of
the season.
Under Handley, the Lady
Celts won a school record 23
games and fi nished fourth in
the state in 2016. After send-
ing three players to Division-
II programs, McNary then
went 13-11 last year and lost
to Jesuit in the fi rst round of
the playoffs.
The Lady Celts will gradu-
ate four seniors including
leading scorer, Sydney Hunter,
who has signed with the Uni-
versity of San Diego.
“It was a tough decision
but the demands of being a
husband, father of a 3-year
old, teacher and coach were
getting more and more diffi -
cult to balance,” Handley said.
“I was realizing that moving
forward it would be nearly
impossible to give 100 percent
to everything, and while I love
coaching it was the obvious
option.”
Handley will remain at
McNary, taking on the re-
sponsibilities of the school’s
activities director.
Please see DORAN, Page 11
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
Liz Doran was introduced as McNary’s next head girls basket-
ball coach on Thursday, April 20.
Celtics drop three straight
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
With the bases loaded and
two outs, McNary couldn’t
break out of its slump as the
Celtics fell at home 6-5 to
Sprague on Friday, April 21.
McNary trailed 6-3 with
one out in the bottom of the
seventh when Jonah Geist and
Joshua Benson hit back-to-
back singles to put runners on
fi rst and second.
After Matthew Ismay add-
ed a third straight hit to score
Geist, Riley Hays then singled
to load the bases. With two
outs, Daniel Johnson drew a
walk to get the Celtics within
6-5. However, Jacob Jackson
got caught looking at strike
three to end the game.
“Our at bats were solid in
the seventh inning to give us
a chance to win,” McNary
head coach Larry Keeker said.
“I like the way we competed
against one of the better teams
in our league. For a lot of our
guys it’s a matter of getting
their timing down on a kid’s
fast ball and being prepared
and not swinging early. In the
sixth inning, we had pop up,
pop up, pop up because the
guys were completely off time
and swinging early.”
Sprague struck fi rst Friday,
scoring an unearned run on a
McNary error at second base.
But the Celtics quickly evened
the game as Geist doubled and
then scored on a RBI single by
Ismay. McNary had a chance
to add even more runs but left
the bases loaded.
After quiet second and
third innings, Sprague loaded
the bases with one out in the
fourth. McNary starting pitch-
er Kyle McCallister struck out
Sprague junior Michael Mur-
phy for out two and got a
ground ball to shortstop for a
potential third out but an error
gave the Olympians a 2-1 lead.
The Celtics again had an
answer for Sprague in the bot-
tom of the inning.
With the bases loaded, Geist
singled, driving in two runs to
give McNary a 3-2 lead.
Batting leadoff, Geist went
3-for-4 with two runs and two
RBIs.
“Jonah’s been a bright spot
all year,” Keeker said. “He’s
earned his way on to the fi eld
and he has a lot of confi dence
at the plate right now. He’s hit-
ting the ball on both sides of
the fi eld. He’s lining the ball
different places. We moved
him to the top of our lineup
because he’s doing a good job
of getting on base.”
The Celtics did all of their
damage at the top of the line-
up. Joshua Benson was 1-for-
3 while Ismay and Hays were
both 2-for-4. McNary’s fi fth
through nine batters didn’t
collect a hit.
“We’ve had some guys that
have been pretty good in our
lineup,” Keeker said. “We want
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary catcher Daniel Johnson tags out a Sprague runner at home Friday, April 21. The Celtics lost 6-5, leaving the bases loaded
in the bottom of the seventh.
to be diffi cult to deal with one
through nine. That’s going to
take some consistency from
guys at the plate.”
The Olympians took the
lead for good in the fi fth, scor-
ing one run on a walk and a
throwing error at shortstop
and a second run on a bad hop
at third.
“Unfortunately for us it’s
coming down to a few plays
a game and lately it’s kind of
been on the defensive end,”
Keeker said.
Please see SLUMP, Page 11
Yates signs with George Fox
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary defensive end Caleb Kiefi uk Yates signed with George Fox University on Monday, April
17 in the College and Career Center.
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary senior Caleb
Kiefi uk Yates’ college choice
checked off every box.
Along with the opportuni-
ty to play football and a strong
mechanical engineering pro-
gram, George Fox University
will also help Yates practice his
faith.
“The football team and
then the academics with en-
gineering, those were the
two big things together and
the fact that it’s a Christian
school,” Yates said. “I’m not
outgoing with it but having
that atmosphere around, I feel
comfortable being in that.”
Yates, who will graduate
with a 4.0 GPA, also wanted
to stay close to home.
“I like going off to new
places and exploring but the
valley is just where I enjoy be-
ing.” he said.
Yates got into contact with
George Fox early in his senior
football season. One of his old
teammates, Hayden Sader, is
on the roster. After a couple of
visits to the campus in New-
berg, Yates knew that’s where
he wanted to go, too.
“After I had seen what all
they had to offer, they were
my No. 1 and I knew that’s
where I was going,” said Yates.
McNary head varsity coach
Jeff Auvinen fi rst got to know
Yates as the coach of the fresh-
men team. He was on the fi eld
for every play at defensive end
and tight end.
“I would like 150 kids like
him every year,” Auvinen said.
“He doesn’t say much. He
leads by his actions. He’s a
hard worker. We are going to
miss him.”
Yates was primarily on the
offensive line as a junior and
then moved to defensive end,
where he’ll play in college, this
past season.
“He would anchor one end
no matter the set,” said Auvin-
en,. “He was solid wherever
we had him. He can do every-
thing.”
McNary offensive coordi-
nator Brad Emmert also high-
lighted Yates’ leadership.
“He never complained,”
Emmert said. “He’s consis-
tent in everything he does
and we’re always looking for
people like that.”