DECEMBER 15, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Celtics win fi rst league dual
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
In its fi rst league dual of the
season, McNary continued to
show something you can’t
coach—tenacity.
“It’s been a while since I’ve
seen a group of kids come
through and have that,” Celt-
ics head coach Jason Ebbs said.
“That’s props to these kids be-
cause a lot of kids these days
are looking to their coach
for this and that but there’s a
powerful tool within oneself.
You (as a coach) can tap into
it, make it spring a leak may-
be, and get it to show itself.
They’re doing a great job. I’m
just really happy with their te-
nacity.”
Behind fi ve pins and two
technical falls, McNary de-
feated McMinnville 40-30 at
home on Thursday, Dec. 7.
At 195 pounds, McNary
sophomore Randal Nordberg
earned a pin just before the
buzzer sounded on the fi rst
period to give the Celtics a
quick 6-0 lead.
“I was very hyped,” said
Nordberg, who has started the
season 3-1 after a knee injury
ended his freshman campaign
early a year ago. He credited
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary sophomore Randal Nordberg pinned his McMinnville
opponent in the fi rst period on Thursday, Dec. 7.
his teammates for the turn-
around.
“I came to preseason and
worked as hard as I could and
just got lucky enough to make
varsity,” Nordberg said. “It’s
defi nitely starting off better
than it was last year.”
In his fi rst match at 220
pounds, Blake Norton then
pinned Juan Contreras, a dis-
trict placer, in the third period
to stretch the Celtics lead to
12-0.
“I took fourth at districts
last year (at 285) and this kid
took fi fth and I just thought of
it as this kid is really going to
set the tone for me this year,”
Norton said. “My goal is to
take fi rst in districts this year
and go far at state and place at
state this year.”
After losing the heavy-
weight match, McNary con-
tinued to pad its lead in the
lightweight divisions.
At 106 pounds, freshman
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary senior Blake Norton earned a third period pin in his fi rst match wrestling at 220 pounds.
Grady Burrows pinned his
opponent in 17 seconds.
“I just went out there and
did my thing and got the win
for my team, a head snap,
cradled him right up and got
the pin,” Burrow said. “My
brother (Sean) came up from
college, fi rst time seeing me. It
was nice.”
At 113 and 126 pounds,
Tony Castaneda and Austin
Moore, two wrestlers with
high school experience who
missed last season, both earned
technical falls to give the Celt-
ics a 28-12 lead.
“It’s good to have Tony
back in the lineup,” Ebbs said.
“He’s been out for about a
year. He’s had previous suc-
cess and he’s trying to fi nd his
groove again and today was a
Please see DUAL, Page 12
McNary sweeps West Albany
Lady Celts
hold off rally
Cavell posts double-double
of 27 points, 10 rebounds
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary (4-0) got a taste of
its own medicine.
Playing another team of
mostly guards, the Lady Celts
eked out a 51-46 victory over
West Albany on Friday, Dec. 8
to open league play.
While McNary never
trailed in the game, the Bull-
dogs got within four points
early in the fourth period and
then 45-44 on a 3-pointer
with 1:14 remaining.
After passing the ball
around the perimeter in an
attempt to run out the clock,
McNary senior Kailey Doutt
saw a lane and drove to the
basket, making a layup and
then the free throw to com-
plete the 3-point play.
“I saw an opening to the
left and I went for it. That’s my
strong side,” Doutt said.
On the other end, Doutt
then pulled down a defensive
rebound and went 1-for-2
from the free throw line to
stretch the lead to 49-44.
After West Albany made
two free throws, McNary se-
nior Paige Downer knocked
down a pair of her own with
9.8 seconds remaining to seal
the victory.
“The whole game was very
intense and kind of out of
control,” Doutt said. “We had
some mental breakdowns on
defense, which shouldn’t hap-
pen. I was very nervous but
the whole time I felt like we
would pull out a win. I had
confi dence that we would. We
just needed to take care of the
ball and be patient and not
rush because their plan was
to make us rush. They were
hustling a lot and we needed
to match that and we didn’t
always. We need to work on
that.”
The Lady Celts looked
like they would run away
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Behind a big fi rst half, Mc-
Nary (2-1) opened Greater
Valley Conference play with
a 72-54 win over West Albany
on Friday, Dec. 8.
The Celtics outscored the
Bulldogs 22-11 in the fi rst
quarter as McNary senior
Chandler Cavell scored 11 of
his 27 points and Lucas Gar-
vey drained three 3-pointers.
The Celtics continued to
add to their lead in the second
quarter and went into halftime
with a comfortable 39-21 ad-
vantage.
McNary head coach Ryan
Kirch said the key to the fast
start was more ball movement
and less dribbling.
“Watching our fi rst couple
games on fi lm, I thought of-
ten times we over dribbled the
basketball, whether that was in
transition getting the ball up
the fl oor or in the half court
offense and I thought we held
the ball one extra dribble,
which allowed the defense to
recover from any advantage
that we’d gotten,” Kirch said.
“We really focused the last
couple days, get the ball up
earlier. If you don’t have any-
thing, get that ball moving
forward, side to side, that way
we can ball fake and attack the
rim. We want to get to the free
throw line a little bit more and
I thought we did that tonight.”
The Celtics were 19-for-
26 from the free throw line.
Cavell fi nished 10-for-11.
Along with his 27 points,
Cavell also added 10 rebounds,
fi ve assists and three steals.
He was 8-for-12 from the
fi eld with all four of his miss-
es coming from behind the
3-point arc.
“You can see that he’s play-
ing at a speed that’s fast but
he is under control with his
body,” Kirch said. “That’s why
his shooting percentage is so
Please see SWEEP, Page 12
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary senior Kailey Doutt shoots over a pair of West Albany defenders. Doutt fi nished with a
double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds.
from West Albany early, be-
ginning the game on a 14-4
run. When the Bulldogs got
within 16-12 early in the sec-
ond period, Downer and Leah
Doutt each scored two baskets
to give McNary a 24-13 lead.
Kailey Doutt’s shot began
to heat up in the second half
as a 3-pointer and jumper put
the Lady Celts on top 31-17.
Doutt fi nished with 21 points,
15 of which came in the sec-
ond half, to go along with 10
rebounds.
McNary led 37-26 when
the Bulldogs went on a 7-0
run to get within 37-33 with
7:39 remaining in the game.
“West Albany plays hard,”
McNary head coach Eliza-
beth Doran said. “They hustle.
They’re just really scrappy
and that bothered us tonight.
Their pressure and their de-
fense, it bothered us and it
was visibly bothering us out
there on the court and we
can’t let that happen. We were
having problems offensively
and we let that seep over into
our defense. There were some
possessions where we were
leaving people open, just un-
characteristic things. We can’t
do that.”
The Lady Celts also got in
foul trouble.
Sabella Alfaro, who only
played nine minutes, made
a 3-point play with 4:11 re-
maining before fouling out
with 1:40 to go. Leah Doutt
also fouled out, with 3:38 re-
maining, fi nishing with four
points, four rebounds and
three blocks.
Please see HUSTLE, Page 13
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary junior Boston Smith had four points and fi ve rebounds
on Friday, Dec. 8 against West Albany.