PAGE A12, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 1, 2017
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Young Lady Celts to play small ball
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Paige Downer remembers
what it was like to play on the
varsity team as a freshman.
“I didn’t feel confi dent,”
Downer said. “I was intimated
by all the older girls.”
As one of four seniors on
McNary’s girls basketball
team, Downer wants to make
sure that these four freshmen
are more comfortable. That
should be easier since Downer
played with them through the
Keizer Youth Basketball Asso-
ciation.
“It’s just been a blast get-
ting to know all of these girls,”
Downer said. “We work so
well together. And I think that
will defi nitely come to our
advantage.”
McNary senior Kailey
Doutt also knows the four
freshmen well. One of them,
Leah Doutt, is her sister.
“My parents coached all of
the freshman from fi fth grade
to eighth grade so I know
them all really well,” Kailey
said. “They’re all like my little
sisters so I’m super excited
that they’re here and I actu-
ally have my little sister on the
team. I think they’ll do really
well.”
roster
K. Munguia-Martinez
Paige Downer
Sabella Alfaro
Kennedy Buss
Kailey Doutt
Emma Kinler
Leah Doutt
Abbie Hawley
Kenzie Proctor
Kyah Witherspoon
Annie-Leigh Besa
#3
#5
#10
#11
#14
#15
#20
#21
#22
#24
#32
Liz Doran, the Lady Celts
new head coach, expects all
four freshmen, Doutt, Ken-
nedy Buss, Mackenzie Proc-
tor and Annie-Leigh Besa, to
contribute to both the varsity
and JV teams.
“This freshmen class is
strong,” Doran said. “All of
them are going to swing (be-
tween varsity and JV) a little
bit, some more than others. I
think as the year goes on some
of the freshmen will really
step up and get more into that
(varsity) rotation.”
McNary returns three
starters in Downer, Doutt and
junior Abbie Hawley. Junior
Sabella Alfaro, who played on
Submitted
McNary has as many freshmen as seniors, four, on its 2017-18 varsity roster. The Lady Celts opened the regular season Thursday,
Nov. 30 at Barlow and play at home Saturday, Dec. 2 against Tualatin.
the varsity team last year, is
also back.
The Lady Celts lost one
player, Anita Lao, via transfer,
but gained another in Emma
Kinler, who comes to Mc-
Nary from Willamette Valley
Christian.
Kinler has played softball
at McNary since Willamette
Valley Christian doesn’t have
a team. She was an all-league
outfi elder last season.
“The girls are really buying
into everything that I’m say-
ing,” Doran said. “They prac-
tice really hard for me. They’re
a good group and they’re go-
ing to be fun to coach.”
Please see SMALL, Page 12
Vincent, Ebbs lead wrestling program
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary junior Enrique
Vincent is excited to see what
he can accomplish with a
whole season of wrestling.
“I realized last year with
only two weeks of practice, I
made it that far,” said Vincent,
who returned from an injury
late in the season to fi nish third
in the state at 120 pounds. “I
wondered what could happen
if I worked as hard the whole
entire season and the offseason.”
Vincent went to camp at
Oregon State University over
the summer and even trained
with Ronnie Bresser, the Bea-
ver’s 125-pounder, who was
a four-time state champion at
Henley High School in Klam-
ath Falls.
“The success last year just
opened his eyes a little bit to
what his potential is,” Celt-
ics head coach Jason Ebbs said.
“He’ll do whatever you ask
him to do but I think he’s fi nal-
ly transitioning into a kid that
sees a bigger picture for himself.
He’s talking about going to col-
lege and doing well at state.”
McNary senior Brayden
Ebbs spent the summer get-
ting stronger after a disappoint-
ing junior season in which he
failed to place in the state tour-
File
McNary junior Enrique Vincent and senior Brayden Ebbs return to a wrestling team full of new faces. Vincent placed third in the state at 120 pounds last season
while Ebbs looks to rebound after a dissapointing junior campaign.
nament.
“My biggest weakness I
think going through my high
school career is my strength,”
Brayden said. “I wasn’t very
strong. This year I fi nally decid-
ed to put the strength on that I
needed to.”
After wrestling at 145
pounds last season, Ebbs ex-
pects to jump as high as 170.
In a new weight class, Ebbs
hasn’t scoped out the competi-
tion around the state.
“I haven’t looked and to be
honest with you I don’t really
care,” Ebbs said. “I’m coming
back this year with a bad at-
titude and a sour taste in my
mouth from what happened
last year. You can’t control what
happens the year before. You
just have to push through that,
fl ush it and come back the next
year and tear it up. I’m not giv-
ing anything to anyone that
they don’t deserve. I’m going to
wrestle everybody like it’s go-
ing to be my last match ever.”
Vincent and Ebbs lead a
young McNary team with a lot
of new faces.
Senior Isaiah Putnam, an-
other wrestler with experience
at the state tournament, is out
for the season after having knee
and shoulder surgery in the off-
season. But Putnam is still con-
tributing.
“He’s a model example of
what a true teammate should
be,” coach Ebbs said. “He’s
helping kids. He’s involved in
the program. There’s no tro-
phies that come for what he’s
doing. We love having him
around.”
The only other returning
Celtics who have wrestled at
the state tournament are Jerry
Martinez, Noah Grunberg and
Blake Norton. But coach Ebbs
liked what he saw at the an-
nual Blue-Gray wrestle off on
Wednesday, Nov. 22.
“This group has tenacity,”
Ebbs said. “We had only had
six practices (before the wrestle
off ) so we’re not real good at
wrestling yet but the tenacity
was off the charts. The kids are
getting after it. They’re aggres-
sive. They’re going hard. Once
we get that refi ned into a cou-
ple techniques, it’s going to be
really, really good to see where
they go.”
McNary opens the season
on Friday, Dec. 1 at home with
an eight-team dual tournament,
now called the Jerry Lane In-
vitational. The fi eld includes
powerhouses Roseburg and
Dallas. Wrestling begins at 4
p.m.
“We invite some of the best
teams we can get here and we
hope to set a bar for what wres-
tling should look like,” Ebbs
said.
McNary hosts youth wrestling camp
McNary High School had
70 kids register for its youth
wrestling camp on Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday
nights from Oct. 24 to Nov. 9.
The camp was led by Mc-
Nary’s coaching staff includ-
ing head coach Jason Ebbs.
Campers learned the ba-
sic fundamentals of wrestling:
takedowns, reversals and es-
capes.
The camp led up to the
Celtic Mat Club, which meets
Monday through Thursday at
6 p.m. More photos on A13.
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
Kids and coaches show off
their muscles at McNary High
School’s
youth
wrestling
camp.