PAGE A18, KEIZERTIMES, JUNE 18, 2021
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McNary demolishes Dallas behind Meithof's 31 pts
SPORTS
McNary guard Nate Meithof gets to the rack to score two of his 31 points in the Celtics 73-43 victory against Dallas on Monday, June 14.
Jando Gonzalez looks to break down a defender off the dribble.
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
The McNary boys basketball team
has played in a number of close games
so far this season.
Their matchup with Dallas was not
one of them.
The Celtics went up by double-dig-
its midway through the fi rst quarter
and never looked back, defeating the
Dragons 73-43 on Monday, June 14.
Nate Meithof led the Celtics with 31
points on 12-of-18 shooting and Jabol
Balos added 10 points in the win.
“It was about not letting up. We
were going to come out aggressive and
make sure that we didn’t give them a
chance to come back,” Meithof said.
Meithof didn’t start the game due
to disciplinary reasons, but made his
impact immediately after entering the
game midway through the opening
quarter, dialing up a long-range tri-
ple and getting a layup in transition
moments later, putting his team up
14-4.
After going up by 12 later in the
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
period, Dallas responded with a 7-0
run, but thanks to a pair of off ensive
rebounds, Evan Cornell was able to
get a hoop before the horn to put the
Celtics on top 18-11 at the end of the
fi rst.
Despite crawling back into the
game, Dallas was unable to handle
McNary’s defensive pressure and full-
court trap, which led to easy buckets
for the Celtics on the off ensive end.
Back-to-back easy hoops from
Meithof, plus a steal and layup by
Gunner Smedema got McNary back
up by double-fi gures early in the sec-
ond quarter. Meithof also has a pair of
massive dunks in transition later in the
period to put the Celtics up by 15.
“I thought that our pressure defense
worked in conjunction with our
off ense,” McNary head coach Ryan
Kirch said. “Any time we can allow our
defense to create off ense and get out in
the open fl oor, I think that is when we
are at our best.”
“It was all about ball movement and
getting down the court in transition,”