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PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 27, 2019 KEIZERTIMES.COM Celts pick up fi rst win against Madison KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings McNary guard Grace Carr looks to fi nd an open teammate after picking up her dribble. Carr had seven points in the Celtics 43-30 win over Madison on Tuesday, Dec. 17. By MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes The return of Leah Doutt did not disappoint for the McNary girls basketball team. Doutt, who missed the fi rst four games of the sea- son due to injury, made her season debut on Tuesday, Dec. 17 and had 13 points to go along with four steals, three assists and two blocks in the Celtics 43-30 victory over Portland’s Madison for their fi rst win of the season. Kennedy Buss also add- ed nine points and eight re- bounds in the win. “Once Leah came back on the court, it was like ev- eryone played a lot more re- laxed,” McNary head coach Elizabeth Doran said. “This junior class has been play- ing together for so long, it’s a little weird when Leah isn’t out there with them. Things were clicking once everyone returned to their usual roles.” After falling behind early, the Celtics scored 14 of the next 17 points, taking a 14-7 lead into the halfway mark of the second period. Madison’s Ava Arias knocked down a 3-pointer — which was Madison’s fi rst hoop in a 10-minute stretch — to cut McNary’s lead to four. But the Celtics got con- secutive hoops from Kenne- dy Buss and Kylie Nepstad to stretch their lead to eight. McNary maintained their eight-point lead for the re- mainder of the quarter as they went into the half with a 24-16 advantage. But in the third quarter, the Celtics broke the game open. Buss scored seven points in the fi rst three minutes of the period, helping McNary go on an 11-0 run to start the second half. “We had talked at half- time about the importance of coming out in the third quarter and setting the tone for the rest of the game. They did a really good job of that,” Doran said. One of the big points-of-emphasis for the Celtics during this early sea- son stretch has been to im- prove on the glass. McNary had 36 rebounds on the night — which was a season high — and also got 11 offensive boards. Rebekah Grimmer led the Celtics with 11 rebounds. “(Grimmer) is doing a great job for us on the boards. She is doing what she needs to do down low,” Doran said. “We need to get her more touches on offense so that will be something we will fo- cus on in the future.” McNary will be compet- ing in the PIL Holiday Clas- sic from Dec. 27 to Dec. 29. They will return home to take on North Medford on Friday, Jan. 3 at 5 p.m. West Salem defeats McNary in the pool KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Nate Meithof beats his defender off the dribble. The junior guard had a career-high 31 points on the night, but it wasn’t enough as the Celtics fell to Mountainside 60-58 on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Meithof’s monster night spoiled by Mountainside By MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes For the majority of the contest, the McNary boys basketball looked unfazed by fi fth-ranked Mountainside of Beaverton. The Celtics even held a 10-point lead with less than fi ve minutes remaining in the contest. But down the stretch, the inexperience of this McNary team reared its ugly head. Despite an incredible 31-point performance from Nate Meithof, the Celtics couldn’t overcome commit- ting 28 turnovers over the course of the contest as Moun- tainside ended the game on a 16-4 run to defeat McNary 60-58 on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Even though they missed out on pulling off the upset, McNary head coach Ryan Kirch seemed pleasantly sur- prised by how his team hung with one of the top teams in the state. “They made a couple more plays than us. Obviously we’re disappointed, but boy oh boy, I was proud of the effort,” Kirch said. “The one thing that we have found from the fi rst few weeks of the season is that this team is going to be competi- tive from the tip. They are in- experienced, they are young, but we can get better from this. The end result doesn’t change about how I feel about our performance.” The Mountainside defense initially had no answer for Meithof. The 6-foot-4 guard started off the opening peri- od with a baseline 3-pointer, which was soon followed by By MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes The McNary swim team wasn’t at full strength, and it showed on the scoreboard on Thursday, Dec. 19 as the Celt- ic girls fell to West Salem 115- 54 while the boys team was just edged out by the Titans, losing by a score of 87-83. “We weren’t at full strength and still managed to compete and get some good times. I really thought that our boys were going to be able to sneak out the win, but we were just short,” McNary head coach Casey Lewin said. In his fi rst varsity dual meet, McNary freshman Zach Kilby was the Celtics top perform- er. Kilby was victorious in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.56 seconds. He also won the 100-free with a time of 56.20 — fi nishing more than four seconds ahead of the next closest fi nisher. Additionally, Kilby helped the 200-medley relay team and the 200-free relay team pick up wins on the night. “Zach will be a huge ad- dition to the boys team. He is young and has a lot of raw talent. I’m excited to see how he develops throughout the season,” Lewin said. “I thought that boys 200 medley and free relays stepped up and swam great.” Kyle Hooper got his fi rst individual victory of the sea- son by crushing the competi- tion in the 200-free (2:02.43). Brennan Whalen took home a win in the 100-breaststroke (1:13.63) to round out the event wins for the Celtic boys. The McNary girls were missing one of their top swim- mers in Bella Beard, which greatly affected their overall competitiveness in this dual. The Celtics weren’t able to get a single relay win, which is usually one of the strengths of the team. Alyssa Garvey and Eloisa Moreno were the only ones who won races for the Mc- Nary girls. Garvey just edged out teammate Paris Boyd to win the 50-free (27.11) while Moreno won the 100-butter- fl y (1:11.58). McNary’s next meet will take place on Thursday, Jan. 9 against Sprague at 7 p.m. an old-fashioned three-point play. His confi dence only grew from there as Meithof would then bury a step-back triple, as well as a pull up trey on back- to-back possessions. “I don’t know what to say. I was just feeling it,” Meithof said. Meithof would end the quarter with 15 points, help- ing his team gain a 19-11 ad- vantage. Mountainside cut the lead to two at 29-27 by halftime. But Meithof helped the Celt- ics offense get going again in the third quarter. Despite an 8-0 run by Mountainside to start the sec- ond half, Meithof, as well as point guard Jando Gonzalez, Please see CELTS Page A10 KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings McNary’s Tyshin Nguyen swims the butterfl y leg of the 200-yard individual medley.
