JANUARY 7, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A17
Gonzalez got the Celtics off to a
quick start, knocking down a pair of
fl oaters in the early stages of the open-
ing period. Moments later, Gonzalez
and Tyler Copeland knocked down
back-to-back triples to put the Celtics
up 10-2, prompting Lakeridge head
coach David Duong to burn a timeout.
The Pacers went on a 10-2 run of
their own following the timeout, but
the Celtics responded with a four-point
possession to give themselves the lead
back late in the quarter.
McNary shooting guard Brody Roth
knocked down a mid-range jumper
while getting fouled to allow the Celtics
to regain the lead. Despite missing the
free throw, McNary regained posses-
sion on an off ensive rebound, which
eventually led to Gonzalez getting
to the rim and fi nishing after a nifty
crossover.
Lakeridge threw a number of diff er-
ent defensive looks at McNary in the
fi rst half, but with the combination of
dribble penetration and backdoor cuts,
the Celtics had no trouble getting easy
looks.
“We knew Lakeridge plays hard
on defense and that they like to take
chances and have good ball pressure.
If we weren't strong with the basket-
ball and cutting hard, we were going to
have issues. That was our focus. They
did a good job against the pressure,”
Keeker said.
A baseline 3-pointer from Roth, fol-
lowed by an easy layup, put the Celtics
up 23-17. Lakeridge came back to cut
the lead to one on multiple occasions
in the second quarter, but McNary
always had an answer.
After the Pacers scored fi ve straight
points, Balos got loose for a pair of tran-
sition buckets on consecutive posses-
sions to make the score 27-22 in favor
of the Celtics. Lakeridge got within
a point once again with less than two
minutes remaining in the period, but a
long triple from the top of the key by
Gonzalez got the McNary advantage
back up to four.
With his team 34-30 at the break,
Gonzalez's hot shooting continued
into the second half. After hitting a
pair of triples early in the third quar-
ter, Gonzalez knocked down his fi fth
3-pointer of the game late in the period,
extending McNary's advantage to
46-34.
Gonzalez credited his performance
to getting some extra shots up early
in the day and receiving some much-
needed rest during the holidays.
“I got a lot of shots up in the morn-
ing and my body was feeling rested
over Christmas break,” Gonzalez said.
Despite making only one fi eld goal
in the fi nal quarter, McNary was able to
milk the clock for much of the period
with a multitude of long possessions
without turning the ball over.
“We still wanted to be aggressive,
if we got a good look we were going
to take it. They took what the defense
was giving them during those longer
possessions. They did a good job of
securing the basketball and looking
for opportunities when they could,”
Keeker said.
McNary's prolonged off ensive pos-
sessions wound up benefi ting them
on the defensive side as well, taking
Lakeridge out of the rhythm they estab-
lished in the fi rst 16 minutes.
After giving up 30 points in the fi rst
half, the McNary defense locked down
the Pacers off ensive attack for the
remainder of the contest, limiting them
to just six points in the second half
— Lakeridge was only able to attempt
11 shots in the second half.
“We did an okay job defensively in
the fi rst half, but I thought they got into
the paint too much. We talked at half-
time about not letting them get into
the paint, because everything starts
to break down from there. In the sec-
ond half, I thought we did a better job
of containing them and discouraging
shots,” Keeker said. “They didn't make
a lot of shots in the second half, and
part of that was because we were close
enough to discourage the shot, instead
of letting them get wide open.”
McNary wraps up their non-league
slate on Friday, Jan. 7 when they travel
to Eugene to take on Sheldon at 7 p.m.
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McNary wing Jabol Balos looks to dribble out of a double-team.
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