JANUARY 26, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A13 KEIZERTIMES.COM Doutt, Lady Celts topple North Salem By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes The bye week did McNary good. In their fi rst game in seven days, the Lady Celts (13-4, 7-2) dominated North Salem 67-34 on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Eight different players scored, includ- ing four in double fi gures. “We focused on us a lot and trying to share the basketball and work to get the best team shot that we can get,” Mc- Nary head coach Elizabeth Doran said. “I thought we really shared the ball well tonight.” Senior Kailey Doutt led the Lady Celts with 19 points, four rebounds and four steals in three quarters. “I was excited to play again,” Doutt said. “I don’t like having breaks so I think we were all excited for this game, to come back. I think we moved the ball pretty well and we shot the ball pretty well from the outside.” McNary shot 47 percent from the fi eld. Paige Downer went 4-for-4 from 3 to fi nish with 12 points. Sabella Alfaro added 10 points and six rebounds. Mackenzie Proctor provided 10 points off the bench. The Lady Celts were a perfect 13-for- 13 from the free throw line. “We’ve been working on the amount of times we get to the line and increas- ing our free throw percentage, so that was good to see,” Doran said. McNary led from start to fi nish as Downer made her fi rst 3-pointer less than a minute into the game. The Lady Celts led 16-9 at the end of the fi rst quarter and 33-15 at halftime. Please see TOPPLE, Page 15 KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary senior Kailey Doutt scored 19 points in three quarters against North Salem on Tuesday, Jan. 23. A student of the game Gardelli comes to McNary from Italy By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes Riccardo Gardelli had played basketball on a club team in Varese, Italy for 10 years. But he had to start from scratch when he decided to come to McNary as an ex- change student. “It was like starting from zero,” said Gardelli, who came to America in August through Cultural Homestay International. While Gardelli wanted to travel the world and meet new people, his main reason for coming to the U.S. was to get better at basketball. He didn’t know where in the country he would end up. “I was lucky because there are exchange students who go to America and go to a place where nobody is there,” Gardelli said. “Keizer is a good city with a big school. Right now I feel very good right here. McNary is a really good program and people.” Gardelli began playing club basketball when he was 7 years old for Pallacanestro Varese, the professional team in his hometown. Since Italy’s high schools don’t have athletic teams, the kids play on club teams. Gardelli’s club season lasted nine months. “It was a little bit hard be- cause it was like my second family,” Gardelli said of leav- ing his club. College basketball also doesn’t exist in Italy. “In America, you have the possibility to win a scholar- ship if you’re good. In Italy, that’s not possible, because you don’t have sports in col- lege. So after under-18, you have to go to a pro team,” Gardelli said. “If you’re not good enough, you’re not go- ing to make it. You’re career is going to stop there. “My dream is to come back here (America) and play college basketball. It doesn’t really matter, Division II, Di- vision I, community college, it doesn’t matter, just play four-year basketball.” Gardelli’s exchange pro- gram ends on June 16. After playing in college, Gardelli would like to return to Italy to play professionally. “I went to America be- cause I wanted to improve my basketball and then come back to Italy more ready to play on a pro team,” he said. While Italian students are taught basic English begin- ning in elementary school, Gardelli said he didn’t really begin to study the language until three months before he came to the U.S. in August. KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley Please see STUDENT, Page 16 Riccardo Gardelli, an exchange student from Italy, has averaged eight points and 3.7 rebounds per game for McNary this season. McNary wrestlers fall short on senior night KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary honored senior wrestlers Jerry Martinez, Noah Grunberg, Isaiah Putnam, Josiah Christensen, Brayden Ebbs, Alex Har- rison, Joe Collins and Blake Norton before its dual against North Salem on Friday, Jan. 19. By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes McNary rolled on Thurs- day, Jan. 18, defeating McKay 51-12 and West Salem 55-15. But the Celtics couldn’t carry that momentum over to senior night, falling to North Salem 42-30 on Friday, Jan. 19. “We wrestled way better yesterday than we did tonight and I’m not talking effort,” McNary head coach Jason Ebbs said. “I’m talking about technique. There’s certain mistakes that we made to- night that we simply did not make last night and they were fatal mistakes.” Senior Brayden Ebbs (170) opened Friday’s home dual, his fi nal at McNary, with a pin in the fi rst period. After North Salem won the next two matches by major deci- sion and pin fall to go ahead 10-6, senior Blake Norton (220) earned a pin in the sec- ond period to put the Celtics on top 12-10. But North Salem won the next four matches, including a forfeit at 106 pounds, to grab the lead and never let it go. At 126 pounds, McNary junior Enrique Vincent pinned his opponent in 30 seconds. Senior Jerry Marti- nez then earned a pin in the second period at 132 pounds. The Celtics fi nal six points came on a forfeit at 145 pounds. Please see SENIORS, Page 16