FEBRUARY 11, 2022, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A23
Nepstad, plus a pair of free throws by
Brookelyn Jackson put McNary on top
15-4 at the end of the opening quarter.
However, McKay did a better job of
taking care of the ball in the second quar-
ter, not allowing the Celtics to get out in
transition. McNary struggled to get good
looks against McKay’s zone defense,
scoring just four points in the period.
The Royal Scots ended the quarter on
a 7-2 run to cut McNary’s lead to 19-11 at
the break.
But at the start of the second half, the
Celtics turned up the intensity on the
defensive end and became more efficient
in their half-court offense.
Buss got loose for a layup in the open
court to begin the third quarter, then
scored on a jump hook after corralling
an offensive rebound on the following
possession.
Moments later Buss converted
another steal into a layup, putting the
Celtics up 26-14.
“Avery played great defense in the
third quarter. That is how we were able
to go up by so much. Her defense led to
a bunch of layups and transition hoops,”
Doran said.
Midway through the quarter, the
Celtics began to show some consis-
tency in their half-court attack as Hailey
Schwinhof scored in the post and Buss
knocked down a triple, putting McNary
up by 19.
“We were able to share the ball a lit-
tle bit more and were better at letting the
offense develop instead of forcing the
issue,” Doran said.
“We talked about execution at half-
time. We did that way better in the third
McNary guard Kylie Nepstad goes up for two of her eight points.
quarter,” Buss added.
McKay climbed back
to get within 10 in the
final quarter, but a three-
point play by Aubrianna
Cabral and a corner trey
by Rubio helped the
Celtics put the game
away.
With
just
seven
games left on their
schedule, the Celtics are
hoping to get back over
.500 in Mountain Valley
Conference play to be
in position for a playoff
berth.
“I think we have
It was good to walk
away with a win. We
did struggle offensively
for a lot of the game,
but we played good
defense for most of the
game.
— ELIZABETH DORAN
McNary head coach
grown throughout the year. It would be
great to get some more wins in the sec-
ond half of league (play) so that we can
finish in the top 32 and make it to the
playoffs. That is one of our goals,” Doran
said.
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