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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2019)
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KEIZERTIMES.COM Lady Celts earn hard-fought win over West Salem By MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes The McNary girls basketball team faced one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the state this season. Even though they only won two of their 10 preseason contests, the tough competition prepared them for what they would face in Mountain Valley Conference play. In a game that went down to the wire, McNary proved that they were the more battle- tested squad. Leah Doutt led the way for McNary with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the fi eld as the Celtics pulled off the upset at West Salem on Friday, Jan. 11, defeating the Titans 42-39. Abilgail Hawley was also in double-fi gures with 10 points. “(West Salem) is really tough team that put a lot of defensive pressure on us, so I was really proud of how we stayed composed throughout the game,” McNary head coach Elizabeth Doran said. “Early on in the season we weren’t winning a lot of games, but I could tell that we were getting better and now it’s coming to fruition.” The game couldn’t have started much better for the Celtics as they began the opening period on a 7-0 run thanks to a jumper from Annie Leigh Besa, followed by a 3-pointer from Hawley. McNary extended their lead to 14-4 by the end of the fi rst quarter after back-to-back hoops from Doutt and another bucket from Hawley. “The key for us was being able to break the press and handle their defensive pressure,” Doutt said. “We were able to get around their defenders and take good shots.” West Salem, however, came roaring back in the second quarter, going on a 14-2 run to take a 18-16 lead late in the period. “We kind of went cold offensively in the second quarter,” Doran said. Mackenzie Proctor made the only shot for the Celtics in the second period, burying a mid-range jumper with less than a minute left to tie the game at 18 going into the break. After both teams traded baskets for the majority of the third quarter, McNary started to get the slight edge when they ended the period on a 6-0 run. A runner from Doutt, KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings McNary guard Leah Doutt drives into traffi c to try and draw a foul. The senior point guard had 17 points on the night in the Celtics 42-39 win over West Salem on Jan. 11. KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Abigail Hawley prepares to knock down a foul shot. paired with four straight points by Hawley, gave the Celtics a 31-26 advantage with eight minutes remaining in the game. The Titans, though, refused to say die, trimming their defi cit down to two points on multiple occasions in the fi nal period. But in each instance, Doutt made sure to keep West Salem at arm’s length. The senior point guard knocked down three buckets in the fourth quarter, but her most clutch play came on defense when her team was up 37-35 with 1:10 left in the game. West Salem had the ball and was looking to either tie or take the lead when Doutt forced a steal at the top of the key, led the Celtics on the fast break and gave a beautiful feed to Kennedy Buss, who fi nished the easy layup to put McNary on top 39-35 with under a minute remaining. “My teammates did a good job of getting open and setting screens for me so I could get to the basket,” Doutt said. “ A trio of missed free throws down the stretch allowed the Titans to cut the lead to one at 40-39 with 16 seconds left of the clock. But after West Salem fouled Leigh Besa with 8.6 seconds remaining, the sophomore forward calmly stepped to the charity stripe and knocked down two shots to put her team up by three. “I was a mess in my head, but I just stepped to the line and took deep breath and I told myself that I had this,” Leigh Besa said. West Salem tried a desperation shot at the horn that was well contested by the McNary defense. The shot never had a chance and didn’t even draw iron, which sent the Celtics into celebration mode. “It was really exciting to get that win,” Leigh Besa said. “It showed that we can compete and go up against these big teams.” McNary goes on the road to take on McKay at 7:15 p.m. Parker and Bonn reunite at Willamette By MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes Isaac Parker was the head coach of the McNary High School football program from 2012 to 2014 and led the Celt- ics to the postseason in all three years of his tenure. Kyle Bonn got the chance to play for Parker when he made the varsity team in 2013 as a sophomore. He then earned a starting spot on the offensive line in 2014. “It was about more than just football, Bonn said about play- ing for Parker in high school. “It was about building rela- tionships and developing char- acter.” “The way that (Parker) coached made us excited to compete with each other. It kept football season really ex- citing and he kept me looking forward to what was coming up next.” But Bonn didn’t get the chance to have a senior year with one of his favorite coach- es. In the beginning of 2015, Parker left the McNary pro- gram to take a job as an offen- sive line and run game coach for Lewis & Clark College. However, after spending the last four season apart, both Bonn and Parker will have the opportunity to reunite this fall. After having a standout sea- son in his fi nal year at McNary, KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Kyle Bonn (left) played for Isaac Parker (right) during the 2013 and 2014 football seasons at McNary High School. Bonn, who is a senior offensive lineman at Willamette University, will get to play for Parker once again after Parker accepted the head coaching job with the Bearcats earlier this month. Bonn signed with Willamette University to continue his ed- ucation, as well as his football career. He played the last three seasons for the Bearcats under Glen Fowles. But after a 1-8 season in 2018, Fowles and and the uni- versity parted ways, leaving the head coaching position vacant. With Parker’s success at Lewis & Clark, combined with his connection to Willamette — he played for the Bearcats from 1998 to 2001 and was a two-year team-captain — it was an easy decision for athlet- ic director Rob Passage to offer Parker the job. And Parker was more than happy to accept the offer. “We are very excited to have Isaac returning to Willamette to lead our football program,” Passage said. “Not only does he bring outstanding teaching and coaching experience, he also adds a tremendous passion for building community within the program, the university and Salem.” Before his days at McNary, Parker was an assistant coach/ offensive coordinator at South Salem High School from 2007 to 2011, so making a return to the Salem-Keizer area pro- voked a sense of joy in the new head coach. “I’m really excited to be re-engaged with the (Sa- lem-Keizer) community. I cre- ated a lot of connections in my time coaching here,” Parker said. “The only school I would have left Lewis & Clark for is Willamette.” Parker isn’t the only one excited about his return to coaching in Marion County. “It’s really great to get him back for that senior season that I missed out on in high school,” Bonn said. “As a team, I’m ex- cited to see us become, not only great football players, but also a great band of brothers.” Parker has his work cut out for him as he his taking over a program that has lost 17 of their 18 games over the last two seasons. However, he is no stranger to helping a losing program develop a winning environment. Lewis & Clark was coming off a winless season the year be- fore Parker set foot on campus. The team also went through each of the 2015 and 2016 seasons without a victory. But when Parker was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2017, the program started to experi- ence real change. In his second game as the OC, Parker led Lewis & Clark to a 40-21 victory over Po- mona-Pitzer. It was the most points the Pioneers had scored since 2014 and their fi rst win since 2013. Two weeks later, Lewis & Clark defeated Willamette 24- 21 for the fi rst time since 2000 to claim the Wagon Wheel traveling trophy. Even though the Pioneers still had losing records in 2017 and 2018, Parker played a big role in the culture shift at Lewis & Clark and hopes to do the same thing with his alma mater. “When I played here, (Wil- lamette) was considered a pe- rennial contender. And I don’t believe that returning to that mindset is far off,” Parker said. Part of changing the cul- ture of a program is having se- niors buy in to what your are preaching, which is why having a guy like Bonn — who will be competing for a starting job on the offensive line — is crucial to help Parker get his message across to the rest of the team. “Getting the opportunity to get that fourth year togeth- er is fun and exciting,” Parker said. When you have a culture change or a new approach to how you do things in a foot- ball program, the senior class can be a hit-or-miss, so having someone who has been in this position with me before and understands the value of his role is huge.” “The biggest thing about Kyle is that he is a high effort guy, which will take you far no matter what. He always gave it his all, which, as a coach, that is what you need and is one of our values as a program.