DECEMBER 24, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A25
six minutes without a field goal. But the
Celtics were able to get it done at the
foul line, making nine of their first 10
free throws in the quarter — McNary
finished the contest shooting 22-of-27
from the stripe.
“We have to run quite a bit when we
miss free throws, I felt like that was our
motivation to be more focused at the
line,” Rubio said.
McNary's first field goal of the sec-
ond quarter came with less than two
minutes remaining in the half, when
Rubio knocked down her second shot
from behind the arc to put the Celtics
up 36-28. Rubio also converted on a
transition layup moments later, then
dropped an assist to Nepstad as the
Celtics led 40-33 at the break.
The Celtics continued their offen-
sive efficiency to start the second half,
leading by as many as 12 in the third
quarter. A mid-range jumper from
Brookelyn Jackson, followed by Buss
scoring on a backdoor cut made the
score 52-43 in favor of McNary to start
the fourth quarter.
However, the McNary defense
couldn't contain the size of Kammy
Mahlum down the stretch as the senior
post scored nine of her 22 points in the
final quarter, many of which came on
second chance points.
“There were too many times we were
giving up boards. We just weren't as
good as we should have been,” Doran
said.
Liberty started the final quarter on a
14-3 run, taking their first lead since the
early stages of the first quarter. From
there, it was a back-and-forth game,
with both teams trading buckets in the
final minutes of the contest.
“Our defense really killed us. If we
had got more rebounds we probably
would have pulled out the win,” Rubio
said.
Rubio scored to tie the game at
61-all with less than 40 seconds left,
but Liberty responded when Maddy
Miramontes nailed a 3-pointer with
18.3 seconds left. On the ensuing pos-
session, McNary had their inbounds
pass stolen by Kaliyah Chronister, who
was immediately fouled and knocked
down both foul shots to put the game
on ice.
“It was a fun game. They got a lit-
tle lucky down the stretch and it could
have gone either way. But those are
heartbreakers, when you control the
whole game and then give it up at the
end,” Doran said.
McNary will compete in the Pacific
Office Automation Holiday Classic at
Grant High School over the holiday
break (Dec. 28-30). Their first game
is against Westview at 1:30 p.m. on
Tuesday, Dec. 28.
Ava Rubio draws contact after getting position in the paint.
While the result didn't go in their
favor, Doran was impressed with how
her team played and hopes it will trans-
late for the remainder of the season.
“I just want us to build off of this.
Hopefully, in the future, our offense
will look like it did this game,” Doran
said. “There were a lot of positives to
take away from this game.”
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
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