PAGE A16, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 13, 2019
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Cepeda and Ebbs are Division I bound
KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings
Alexa Cepeda (left) signed to play softball at Portland State University for the 2021 season while
Taylor Ebbs (right) gave a verbal commitment to the University of Kentucky back in November,
By MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Both Alexa Cepeda and
Taylor Ebbs have been stand-
outs for the McNary softball
team over the course of their
careers. And in the years to
come, both players will get
a chance to showcase their
talents at a pair of Division I
softball programs.
Cepeda, who is entering
her senior season with the
Celtics, will continue her
career at Portland State Uni-
versity after offi cially signing
with the Vikings last month.
Ebbs, a junior at McNary,
gave her verbal commitment
to the University of Ken-
tucky last month as well.
Looking at their statistics
and accolades, it’s obvious to
see why Cepeda and Ebbs
have been recruited so heavily.
Last season, Ebbs had an
unbelievable batting average
of .628 with seven homers
and 60 RBIs. She also had
22 extra-base hits on the
year and was recognized as
the player of the year in the
Mountain Valley Conference.
Cepeda also had an excel-
lent year for the Celtics as she
led the team in runs scored
(48), and was second on
the team in batting average
(.495), on-base percentage
(.560) and doubles (10). She
also proved to be one of the
top defensive center fi elders
in the MVC.
Both players were also
selected to the all-state fi rst-
team and helped the Celtics
win the conference title in
2019.
“I have been fortunate in
my time at McNary to be
able to coach some excellent
players. With that being said,
I would put these two at the
top,” McNary head coach
Kevin Wise said. “What
stands out with both of them
is their work ethic. They
are not satisfi ed with being
okay and if there is an area
of weakness, they will work
hard to improve it. They are
also excellent teammates,
very unselfi sh and great lead-
ers.”
Ebbs went on an unoffi cial
visit to Kentucky in Septem-
ber. Even though it’s more
than 2,000 miles away from
Keizer, she said that it felt like
home.
“I went to other places,
but I just didn’t get that same
feeling as the one I had when
I was at Kentucky. I just knew
that I could spend four of fi ve
years of my life living there,
even if I wasn’t playing soft-
ball. It just felt like home for
me,” Ebbs said.
While Ebbs went on vis-
its to several different schools,
Cepeda knew pretty quickly
that Portland State was the
place that she wanted to be
after high school.
“I didn’t know much
about the school at fi rst, but
I have always loved Portland
and after I went on my vis-
it, Portland State was the
only school that I was really
interested in,” Cepeda said.
“When I went and met my
coaches and the team, I just
felt like I was a part of the
team already. I just can’t wait
Please see D1, Page A13
Celtics come away with a
pair of wins at Jerry Lane
By MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
In their season-opening
tournament, the McNary
wrestling team fi nished with
a 2-2 record in their four
dual meets at the third annu-
al Jerry Lane Invitational on
Friday, Dec. 6 — which took
place at McNary High.
The Celtics picked up
their two victories against
Glencoe and Cleveland.
“The product that we put
on the mat for our fi rst time
out was as good or better
than the product we put out
at the end of last season. It
was good to see our off-sea-
son growth. I think our kids
are growing stronger mental-
ly and they are just maturing
overall,” McNary head coach
Jason Ebbs said. “We’re going
to be a pretty good little dual
team.”
McNary senior Matt Me-
hlhoff (160 lbs.) had one of
the best tournament show-
ings of his career, going 3-1
on the night with all three
of his victories coming via
fi rst-round fall.
“(Mehlhoff) has never
been a superstar on the team,
but he has always been the
guy behind the scenes that
always is putting his hours in
the practice room and get-
ting better week by week,”
Ebbs said. “He should start
raising his expectations.”
“Going 3-1 defi nitely
gave me a boost of confi -
dence,” Mehlhoff added.
Mehlhoff ’s lone defeat
came in the dual against
Dallas. Although he ended
up getting pinned by Dallas
160-pounder Colson Spen-
cer in the second round,
Mehlhoff believes that was
possibly his best match of
the day.
“Honestly, I felt like it was
a pretty even matchup. He
kind of took over late, but
I thought we both wrestled
well,” Mehlhoff said.
Freshman Brandon Blan-
co also had a solid night for
the Celtics in the 106-pound
division, picking up a pair of
pins and a forfeit win.
Grady Burrows (120) and
Gilbert Parra (145) — the
Celtics two representatives
at the state meet last season
— each picked up three vic-
tories as well. Parra earned
a major decision victory to
go along with his two oth-
er victories, which came via
pin. Burrows also pinned
two of his opponents and
won his other match thanks
to a forfeit.
Joshua Friesen (138) and
Rigoberto Hernandez (126)
contributed to the cause by
adding a pin apiece.
The Celtics jump into
their Mountain Valley Con-
ference slate on Wednesday,
Dec. 18 when they take on
Sprague at 7 p.m.
McNary had a hard time
competing with Sprague last
season as the Olympians have
one of the best programs in
the state. But Ebbs welcomes
the challenge that Sprague
presents for his team.
“Last year was last year.
You don’t want to dwell on
it, but at the same time, we
want to use it as motivation.
We should always be chasing
the best teams in the state.
Our kids should be learning
to wrestle at that level,” Ebbs
said.
KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings
McNary’s Brandon Blanco (blue singlet) tries to get position on Cleveland’s Sean Lee in a
106-pound bout.
KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings
McNary point guard Jando Gonzalez prepares to crossover in the Celtics 53-38 win on
Tuesday, Dec. 18.
Defense key in McNary’s
victory over McMinnville
guys who can guard one-
By MATT RAWLINGS
on-one. We want to make
Of the Keizertimes
It’s still early in the sea- everything diffi cult when
son, but it appears that the we’re defending. Our guys
identity of the McNary take a lot of pride in that,”
boys basketball team can be McNary head coach Ryan
Kirch said.
found in their defense.
T h e
The Celt-
Celtics
got
ics tenacious
back-to-
f u l l - c o u r t “ Every time we
back triples
press
gave got a defl ection
from
Nate
McMinn-
Meithof and
ville fi ts for or steal, it
Riley Flores
the majority
gave us more
to jump out
of the night
to an ear-
as the Celt- momentum
ly 6-2 lead.
ics moved to
Flores got an
2-0 on the and helped us
easy lay-up
season with on offense.”
in transition
a 53-38 vic-
— Nate Meithof, moments lat-
tory over the
McNary guard
er to increase
Grizzlies on
the lead to six,
Tuesday, Dec.
which
was
10.
McNary has held both of followed by another triple
their opponents this season by Meithof after McNary
forced McMinnville into a
to under 45 points.
“We always pride our- 10-second violation.
McMinnville trimmed
selves on our defense. We
have a lot of quickness the defi cit to 16-11 by the
and we have a lot of tough end of the fi rst quarter, but
the Celtics continued to
create offensive opportuni-
ties with their ball-pressure.
McNary forced three
turnovers in a four-minute
stretch in the second quar-
ter, which allowed them to
go on an 11-3 run to take
a 27-14 lead late in the pe-
riod.
“Every time we got a
defl ection or steal, it gave
us more momentum and
helped us on offense,” said
Meithof, who led McNary
with 21 points.
“You can see when de-
fense turns into offense, it
can be backbreaking for a
team,” Kirch added.
After taking a 29-18
lead into halftime, freshman
point guard Jando Gonzalez
opened up the third quar-
ter by nailing consecutive
triples to increase McNary’s
lead to 35-16.
The Celtics lead by as
much as 25 points in the
Please see CELTS, Page A12