DECEMBER 17, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A21
McNary can't contend with Canby
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
The McNary boys basketball team
came out fl at in their season opener,
and the senior-laden Canby squad
made them pay.
The Cougars led by double-digits
for most of the game, defeating the
Celtics 66-41 on Friday, Dec. 10.
Jando Gonzalez and Evan Cornell
each had 11 points for McNary.
McNary head coach Ryan Kirch was
critical of his off ense after the game,
but believes that, in time, his relatively
inexperienced squad can get on track.
“I don't think we ran one thing
correctly all night where all fi ve guys
were on the same page. We were out
of rhythm and our shot selection was
poor,” he said. “Everyone is still try-
ing to fi gure out what their role is and
where they fi t in. We need to be more
connected as a group with the way that
we play, and that will come with more
practice.”
After Gonzalez started the game
with a 3-pointer on McNary's fi rst
possession, Canby scored the next 20
points, making seven of the fi rst eight
shots, four of which came from three-
point territory.
“I thought we were a little shell
shocked to start,” Kirch said. “I just
don't think we were all engaged men-
tally in a way that we needed to be.”
With fi ve players listed at 6-foot-4
and over, Canby had a signifi cant
height advantage over McNary, whose
tallest player, Tyler Copeland, is 6’3.
Despite the size mismatch, Canby did
the majority of their damage from the
perimeter, nailing 13 shots from behind
M C N AR Y
HOOPS
McNary guard Gunner Smedema drives baseline in the Celtics 66-41 loss to Canby
the arc.
“There were certain guys that put
good pressure on the ball, but overall
we were out of position a lot,” Kirch
said. “We just need to get better.”
The Celtics trailed 32-15 at the half,
but showed new life to start the third
quarter.
After Canby extended their lead to
19, McNary responded with an 8-1 run
after a jump-hook by Copeland and a
pair of triples by Gonzalez and Cornell.
Cornell hit two more 3-pointers in
the quarter to cut the Canby lead to 11.
Kirch said that he told his guys at
halftime to smile and have fun because
“everybody was so tight and nervous
and scared to make a mistake. We told
them to not worry about the scoreboard
and just play possession by possession.
That is when you saw us get into a little
bit of a rhythm.”
McNary was on the cusp of trim-
ming the defi cit to single digits, but the
Cougars put the game away after scor-
ing 13 of the next 16 points to end the
period with a 51-29 advantage.
Despite the lopsided defeat, Kirch
said that he saw some good signs from
his team.
“You saw in spurts what we could do.
We just have to work on how to make
those spurts the continuous way that
we play,” Kirch said.
The Celtics return home on Tuesday,
Dec. 14 to take on Roseburg at 7 p.m.
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
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