NOVEMBER 16, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A13
KEIZERTIMES.COM
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary Youth Football’s JV team defeated Sherwood 16-0 on Saturday, Nov. 10 at South Salem High School to win the Silver Bracket Tualatin Valley League championship.
Young Celtics win silver
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
SALEM—McNary Youth
Football’s defense carried the
JV team to a championship.
Playing in the fi nal game of
the Silver Bracket, the Celtics
shut out Sherwood 16-0 on
Saturday at South Salem High
School.
The victory came after
McNary throttled Centennial
34-6 the week before.
“It was a group effort,”
Celtics head coach Dustin
Ferrando said. “We have a
bunch of beasts on defense
and they hold the team down
for us.”
McNary took the lead ear-
ly in the second quarter on
a 5-yard touchdown run by
Izeyah Contreras.
Jesse Dyer, who was 2-for-
2 on extra points, then added
a 12-yard touchdown run late
in the fi rst half to give the
Celtics a 16-0 lead.
Sherwood’s best chance to
score came early in the fourth
quarter but McNary’s defense
held on fourth down at the
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
LEFT: Raider Cendejas tackles a Sherwood ball carrier Saturday at South Salem High School. ABOVE: Izeyah Contreras scored a
5-yard rushing touchdown for the Celtics.
Salang voted Player of the Year
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Kalea Salang kept her
shoulder together with tape,
ice and Advil.
Nursing a strained bicep
tendon, to go with tendini-
tis in both knees, she went to
physical therapy twice a week.
And minus one weekend
volleyball tournament in Dal-
las, Salang didn’t miss a game
for Blanchet Catholic.
“It was really painful to
play with all season,” Salang
said. “I’d take Advil before
and after practice, before and
after games, Kinesio tape on
it constantly, just trying to
get through games the best
I could. In games where we
were pretty confi dent we were
going to win, coach (Sher-
rie Bashaw) would tell me I
could take a little bit off of my
swing, just be confi dent with
my shots. I did that a lot of the
season.”
Despite the injury, Salang
fi nished her senior season
with 251 kills, 36 aces, a 95
percent serve percentage, 263
digs and 32 blocks.
The PacWest Conference
coaches voted her Player of
the Year.
Salang was surprised.
“I hold myself to pretty
high standards and I just felt
like I didn’t really do as well as
I thought I was going to be-
cause of my arm,” Salang said.
“It was holding me back. I’m
a hitter and all I want to do
is swing on the ball and hit
it as hard as I can. But most
of the season I was just doing
some smart shots and here and
there I would get some good
hits in.”
She was also honored.
“It defi nitely meant a lot
more to me knowing that
these coaches, who may or
may not know that I’ve been
struggling with an injury, but
knowing that they respect me
as a player and the hard work I
put into the sport,” Salang said.
With Salang at outside
hitter, Blanchet went 15-6
during the regular season to
win its fi rst league champion-
ship since 2011.
As the fi ve seed in the 3A
playoffs, the Cavaliers defeat-
ed Oregon Episcopal and
Salem Academy 3-0 to reach
the semifi nals, even without
senior middle Ana Coronado,
who missed the tournament
with a sprained ankle.
Blanchet then took de-
fending state champs and No.
1-seeded Cascade Christian
fi ve games.
“We played really well
against them,” Bashaw said.
“At state, the ball can go either
way. It didn’t bounce our way.
I think we could have taken
them. We knew it was going
to be a battle. The girls played
a hard fought game all the way
through.”
Submitted
Jane Mulholland and Kev-
in Hohnbaum view the fi ght
against a big box store in
Keizer Station’s Area C as
taking a stand for their neigh-
borhood.