JUNE 18, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A19
Balos added.
Despite keeping the lead at 15
midway through the third quar-
ter, Kirch was discouraged to see
some sloppy play from his team
at both ends of the court, which is
why he called timeout to attempt
to whip his team back into shape.
“I thought we got sloppy
and lackadaisical with the ball.
Mistakes on off ense are going
to happen but it can’t aff ect what
we do on the defensive end, and
I thought that it did for three
or four possessions,” Kirch
said. “I wanted to bring their
attention to it. They recog-
nized it and went back out
and played.”
It is safe to say that the
Celtics received their coach’s
message.
After two free throws from Meithof,
the star shooting guard was sent to the
line once again, this time making the
fi rst and missing the second, but get-
ting his own rebound to convert on a
layup.
Meithof would score again on the
next McNary possession, then found
Balos with a one-handed pass while
falling out-of-bounds minutes later.
Balos knocked down a fl oater while
being fouled and later completed the
three-point play to put the Celtics up
56-31.
“The chemistry was key, just work-
ing together and talking to each other,”
Balos said.
Meithof showed his determination
to get into the paint in the third quar-
ter, scoring 10 points in the period, with
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.
— RYAN KIRCH
McNary head coach
the majority of them coming from the
paint and at the foul line.
“They were guarding me up close
and, as soon as they came up in me, I
just would jab-step and try to get to the
paint,” Meithof said.
Kyler Rodriguez got in on the action
with a baseline triple later in the third
quarter, then Meithof buried a deep,
step-back 3-pointer at the buzzer to
put the Celtics on top 64-33 — McNary
ended the period on an 18-2 run.
“It was about fi ne-tuning their mind-
set, then letting them go out and have
some fun,” Kirch said.
The Celtics would lead by as many
as 34 in the fi nal period before eventu-
ally winning by 30.
McNary returns home on Friday,
June 18 to take on Corvallis at 7:30 p.m.
Tyler Copeland absorbs the contact before going up for a shot.
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
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