JANUARY 12, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A13
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Ebbs, Vincent place
at Sierra Nevada
Sophomore wins
girls tournament
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary sophomore Nico-
lette Parra went to the Sierra
Nevada Classic in Reno for
more mat time and to expe-
rience a big tournament with
wrestlers from four different
states.
She got much more.
Wrestling in a bracket with
10 other girls, Parra won the
135-pound championship on
Dec. 29 at the Reno Livestock
Events Center. She defeated
Thurston junior Alaina Za-
mudio in the fi nals, pinning
her in the fi rst period.
“It was 0-0 for a minute
and a half and I just got tired
of it and tripped her leg and
instantly pinned her,” Parra
said. “It was pretty quick. I
wasn’t too proud of it. I didn’t
feel like I really fought for it.”
After a fi rst round bye,
Parra earned a third round pin
in the quarterfi nals and then
won by a 10-4 decision in the
semifi nals.
“It meant a lot because I’ve
never even placed in anything
before and then this year I’ve
been doing so well,” Parra said.
“It means a lot and to stand
on that podium, I was proud
of myself.”
Parra began wrestling in
eighth grade at Whiteaker
Middle School. She won her
fi rst match, despite not really
knowing what she was doing.
But high school wrestling was
much tougher.
“It’s a lot harder now,” Par-
ra said. “Last year, I had 30-40
matches and won like six of
them.”
Wrestling on McNary’s ju-
nior varsity, Parra started her
sophomore season 11-0 be-
fore losing her fi rst match. She
was 18-3 as of Friday, Jan. 5.
Please see PARRA, Page 10
Submitted
McNary sophomore Nicolette Parra won the 135-pound Sierra
Nevada Classic championship in Reno on Dec. 29.
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Brayden Ebbs believed he
should have made the fi nals at
the Sierra Nevada Classic.
But the McNary senior
didn’t let a disappointing loss
in the quarterfi nals keep him
from fi nishing the 64-man,
double elimination tourna-
ment strong.
Ebbs won four matches
in the consolation bracket to
place third at 160 pounds on
Dec. 29 at the Reno Livestock
Events Center.
“That’s a big thing I tried
to focus on,” Ebbs said of
wrestling through the conso-
lation bracket.
“My dad (McNary head
coach Jason Ebbs) has told me
for years and my club coaches
have told me for years that
once you lose if you don’t
come back and get third, it’s a
mental thing.
“A lot of kids they’ll lose
a big tournament and they’ll
think I should have taken
fi rst and it doesn’t even mat-
ter anymore. I just think it
shows a lot of character com-
ing back.”
Ebbs lost to Austin Watson
of Thurston in the quarterfi -
nals.
Watson fi nished the tour-
nament in second.
“It was a mix of a tough
kid and a bad match,” Ebbs
said. “I didn’t wrestle the way
I should have wrestled.”
In the consolation bracket,
Ebbs earned a quick pin and
then won two decisions, 9-4
and 8-1, to advance to the
third place match.
“I learned that I have dif-
ferent styles of wrestling that I
can adjust to,” Ebbs said.
“I just need to be able to
transition into matches be-
cause usually I wrestle in an
aggressive style but some kids
I have to slow it down and be
more strategic and technical.”
Please see CLASSIC, Page 14
Celtics rolling
Smith posts double-double
of 18 points, 10 rebounds
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary coaches knew it was just a matter of
time before 6-foot-6 junior Boston Smith had
his coming out party.
Feeding him in the post, Smith fi nished with
a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds
as the Celtics defeated West Salem 61-54 on
Friday, Jan. 5.
“This is a big night for me,” Smith said. “I
just think the energy helped me and the whole
team score and lead us to victory.”
Smith scored McNary’s fi rst two baskets of
the game and added six more points in the fi nal
three minutes of the second quarter as the Celt-
ics led 32-29 at halftime.
Smith scored six more points in the third
quarter, including a dunk to give McNary a 42-
36 lead with 2:53 remaining.
“You saw tonight an energy out of him
that we’ve been waiting for,” Celtics head
coach Ryan Kirch said. “It’s like a sleeping gi-
ant. It was so great to see tonight. I know he
was nervous before the game. We’ve just got to
give him confi dence. We think he can do great
things. Sometimes he’s just got to trust that and
we want to keep feeding him the ball and keep
giving him confi dence.”
West Salem took its fi rst lead since the fi rst
quarter on a 3-pointer to go ahead 49-48 with
5:44 remaining in the game. Trailing 53-50,
McNary senior Lucas Garvey knocked down a
3-pointer to tie the game with 3:10 left to play.
Andrew Jones made two free throws to give
the Celtics the lead for good, 55-54, with 1:59
remaining.
“We knew they were going to go on runs,”
said Jones, who was 6-for-6 from the free throw
line in the fourth quarter. “They’ve got shoot-
ers. They’ve got really good players and we just
knew we had to stick together and keep playing
our game. It’s a just a big confi dence booster
because we knew we could compete with some
of the best teams in the state and I think it just
reassures that we know we can play with any-
one.”
McNary went 8-for-8 from the free throw
line down the stretch while West Salem was
1-for-4, twice missing the front end of a one-
and-one.
“I love coaching but games like this is when
I miss playing,” Kirch said. “They just embraced
the moment. They’re having a lot of fun and it’s
great to see.”
West Salem is one of McNary’s biggest rivals.
“There’s always been a confl ict between us,”
Jones said. “We don’t like them and they don’t
like us and we knew they were good and we’ve
been good so it’s just always been a battle.”
Jones fi nished with 12 points, three rebounds
and two assists. Garvey added 15 points, two re-
bounds and two assists. Chandler Cavell had 11
points, eight rebounds and fi ve assists. Riccardo
Gardelli was the only other Celtic to score, add-
ing fi ve points to go along with seven rebounds.
McNary also defeated McKay 81-64 on
Tuesday, Jan. 9. The win was the Celtics fi fth in
a row since knocking off previously undefeated
Tualatin on Dec. 27.
“I’m so happy and proud and excited of our
team,” Kirch said. “We just literally every day
and every game are getting better and better
and better. I think we’ve developed into a really
good basketball team. We defend really, really
well. We’ve got a lot of different scoring op-
tions.”
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary junior Boston Smith had the best game of his high school career, scoring 18 points and
pulling down 10 rebounds as the Celtics defeated West Salem 61-54 on Friday, Jan. 5.
Lady Celts top West Salem
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary junior Sabella Alfaro scored 10 points in the Lady Celts 52-38 win on Friday, Jan. 5.
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary overcame an ugly
second quarter to defeat West
Salem 52-38 on Friday, Jan. 5.
After jumping out to a 12-2
lead, the Lady Celts struggled
to score, not making their fi rst
and only fi eld goal of the sec-
ond period until 50 seconds
remaining to tie the game at
16-16.
A West Salem free throw
then gave the Titans a 17-16
lead entering halftime.
“The second quarter they
really got on the offensive
rebounds and we had to box
them out because they’re a lot
taller than us,” McNary se-
nior Paige Downer said. “That
was a big focus for us coming
into the second half. And re-
ally pushing the ball up. We
know we’re faster than them.
We have speed, quickness and
good shooters so we tried to
get the ball up quicker and
just create shots for our team-
mates.”
McNary also had to play
much of the second quarter
without leading scorer Kai-
ley Doutt, who picked up her
second foul with 2:32 remain-
ing in the fi rst period.
Doutt then picked up her
third foul with 6:03 left to
play in the third.
Senior Emma Kinler came
off the bench to tie the game
at 21-21 on a three-point play.
Sabella Alfaro then gave the
Lady Celts a 25-23 lead.
“It defi nitely hurts be-
cause she’s mostly our go
to,” Downer said of playing
without Doutt. “We know
we can rely on her to score a
big bucket when we need it.
People have to step up though.
We need someone else on the
court to step up and take the
initiative.”
After West Salem grabbed
the lead again on a layup off
a McNary turnover, Downer
made two free throws to put
the Lady Celts back on top
28-27. A jump shot by fresh-
man Mackenzie Proctor
stretched the lead to 30-27
Please see CELTS, Page 16