PAGE A16, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 04, 2022
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McNary picks up big win at South Salem
M C N AR Y
HOOPS
McNary forward Carson Long prepares to make a pass in traffic.
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
“It certainly wasn't pretty,” McNary
boys’ basketball coach Ryan Kirch said
about his team's performance against
South Salem, but the Celtics did
enough to get the job done on the road.
Trailing by three midway through
the third quarter, McNary finished the
period on a 12-0 run and never looked
back, defeating the Saxons 54-42 on
Friday, Jan. 28.
Jando Gonzalez had a game-high
14 points, all of which came in the sec-
ond half, for the Celtics and Gunner
Smedema added 11 points in the win.
“Since league play has started and
we've been at full strength, we have
gotten better every single game. We
have really guarded well over the last
couple weeks,” Kirch said. “We had
some struggles with handling pres-
sure and making shots at times, but I'm
proud of our guys. It was an ugly win.
But a win is a win.”
Since the creation of the Mountain
Valley Conference (MVC) in 2018,
McNary is the only team to defeat
South Salem multiple times in their
home gym — the Celtics beat the sec-
ond-ranked Saxons in 2019.
“They have been a rival for us the
last few years, so coming out with a win
was really important to us,” Gonzalez
said.
“We made it our court tonight,”
McNary forward Carson Long added.
McNary jumped out to an 8-2 advan-
tage in the first quarter after Smedema
and Tyler Copeland each scored a pair
of hoops in the first three minutes.
The Celtics went through a five-min-
ute scoreless drought, allowing South
Salem to go on a 9-0 run to gain the lead,
but a key 3-pointer from Long helped
the Celtics regain the momentum.
After getting a stop on the defensive
end, Copeland found Long moving up
the floor with an outlet pass with less
than five seconds left in the quarter.
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
Despite not being a perimeter player,
Long gathered and shot the ball with
confidence from the baseline, finding
nothing but the bottom of the net when
the buzzer sounded, tying the game at
11.
“It was a confidence booster, know-
ing that my teammates trusted me to
take those shots,” Long said. “It brought
our energy up.”
The other factor that allowed
McNary to get out of their offensive
funk was the play of Jabol Balos-Mesey
off the bench.
Using his speed and athleticism,
Balos-Mesey got to the rim on three
consecutive possessions to score six
straight points, allowing the Celtics to
keep pace.
“He was a great spark tonight off the
bench. He can go by people as good as
anyone you'll see. With our personnel,
he’s able to do stuff that other guys can’t.
In both halves, his impact changed the
course of the game because it distorted
their defense and changed how they
guard. Those were big minutes he gave
us tonight," Kirch said.
A triple from Brody Roth put McNary
on top late in the second quarter. The
SPORTS