PAGE A16, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 04, 2022
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SPORTS
Celtics say goodbye to
seniors, secure big win
By JEREMY McDONALD
For the Keizertimes
McNary flexed its Senior Night mus-
cle Friday night against South Salem,
keeping their slight 6A postseason hopes
alive as they await to see if they'll sneak
into the Field of 32 on Saturday.
But, as they sat at 34 entering the
game against the Saxons, they fell flat to
start the game. Falling behind 21-12 in
the second quarter in their 58-47 win in
their regular season finale.
Then, something clicked. Their
defense settled in; they weren't forcing
shots. Those eventually landed. And that
spark grew into a slight flame to help
turn the deficit into a 32-25 lead by the
6:10 mark of the third quarter.
"I thought our shot selection was a
little rushed early on. We really didn't
have a chance to distort the defense
a little bit. It's not the type of shot, it's
we want to make the defense go around
and I thought we did a really good job.
I thought once Jando (Gonzalez) got
into the game and was able to defend
(South Salem's Greg) Comer, that was a
big thing for us," Head Coach Ryan Kirch
said. "I thought we rebounded well and
really kept them down to minimize their
second-chance shots and our defense
really created some shots for us. We got
some baskets in transition and really got
up-and-down the floor."
Gonzalez has been battling a bruised
quadricep muscle and has been slowly
working his way back. The junior led
McNary with 19 points over the final three
quarters of play as he battled through the
stiffness that had him at about a six-out
of 10 on this evening Kirch points. But
the McNary head coach is expecting
some big things out of him entering his
senior year.
"He was about a six-out-of-10 from
what he told me tonight, but we asked
him to go in and guard the best player the
whole time. He shot the ball well tonight,
Senior Gunner Smedema hugs an assistant coach after coming off the court in
the Senior Night win.
PHOTO/Jeremy McDonald
he competes. He's really, really, really
tough," Kirch said of Gonzalez. "As we
say goodbye to our seniors this year, his
role is going to have to be bigger. We're
going to have to ask more of him, but he
certainly does a good job and is a heck of
a competitor and is really, really tough."
South Salem drew them back in, to
33-30, but the Celtics went on another
run. This time of the 12-5 variety to
rebuild their lead going into the fourth
up 45-35. It was the last time that the
margin of the game was as close to the
one possession margin as the Celtics
sustained their mojo for the final eight
minutes.
Making sure that they did all they
could to make their case to sneak into
the postseason sitting on the outside
looking in.
"We called a timeout mid-way through
the third and they made a little bit of a
run, got it down to five or so. They're
scrappy, they do a lot of things and
they're going to cause some mistakes as
they did," Kirsch said. "I thought we did
an ok job regrouping, weathering the
storm and really defending."
Brody Roth scored 12 points and Tyler
Copeland added another seven in the
win for McNary. The Celtics finish the
regular season 10-14 and 5-9 in Mountain
Valley Conference-play.
McNary wrestling: Girls place at state, boys get close
By JEREMY McDONALD
For the Keizertimes
For the first time since 2018, the McNary
Girls wrestling team has a state placer in Yared
Calderon.
Calderon finished sixth at 235 pounds
after battling through the consolation rounds
in Thursday, Feb. 24m Girls State Wrestling
Championships at Culver High School.
Setting a precedent for those coming up
behind her as Calderon graduates.
"Yared set the precedent that we should
have a McNary girl on the podium every year
going forward. She also is the start of McNary
Girl's Wrestling being recognized as a legiti-
mate girl's program. We have a great crop of
younger girls that I think are ready to step up
and fill her shoes," McNary Head Coach Sam
Martin said.
"Overall, she wrestled pretty well. The quar-
ter’s loss was a tough one because she had the
Centennial girl on her back but was unable to
capitalize. She knew it was a long road back to
get on the podium, but she came out and was
aggressive in her next match and responded
well coming off the loss."
Calderon lost to Centennial's Rose
Williams in the Championship Quarterfinals
before picking up a pin of Reagan Alvernaz
of South Albany and a 9-8 decision of North
Valley's Breanna Meek before falling in her
next two matches. Falling in the fifth/sixth-
place match to Williams via pin at the 2:23
mark.
On the guys side, the Celtics saw Max
Blanco, Anthony Cruz-Lopez and Josh Friesen
knocking on the door of the Saturday/Sunday
6A State Wrestling Tournament at Sandy
High School.
Blanco took third at 106 while Friesen (170)
and Cruz Lopez (285) finished a match from
placing at the tournament.
“(Blanco) looked pretty dominant this
weekend. He lost a close one in the semis, just
started a little slow. But bounced back really
well, and in dominant fashion. Josh Friesen
and Anthony Cruz Lopez finished one match
short of placing,” Martin said. “I'm pleased
with how both of them wrestled. They both
left it all out there. Overall, this was another
step forward for us as we continue to build.
I'm already looking forward to next year to see
what this team can do.”
Blanco fell to Clackamas’ Jeremiah
Wachsmuth, a second seed, in the semi-final
round before picking up a 14-1 Major Decision
over Bend’s Eric Larwin and another 14-1 major
decision over Mountainside’s Brody Lybarger
in the third-place match.
The three, plus Layan Runyan at 285 made
it to Day 2 of the two-day meet. An impressive
build-up from the last two years.
“It was good. That's double from what we
had make it to Day 2 last year,” Martin starts.
“Heck, in 2018-19, and 19-20 we didn't event
have kids make it to day 2. Of course, we
would've liked all four to place, but all we can
ask is that they leave it all on that mat and that
is exactly what they did.”
Runyan lost his first match of the tourna-
ment before advancing through three conso-
lation finals before falling to South Salem’s
Camden McCool two wins from the third-
fourth round bout.
Josh Friesen in a recent match./ File Photo