PAGE A18, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 29, 2022
Salem Capitals can’t find answer
for Foster, California Sea-Kings
By JOSHUA MANES
Of the Keizertimes
Even with a 32-10 run in the second
half, the Salem Capitals couldn’t slow
down Greg Foster and the California
Sea-Kings Saturday night.
Foster scored 35 points, along with
13 assists and 5 rebounds in the 121-105
victory.
“Greg Foster is just an incredible
basketball player and he controls both
sides of the game,” Capitals head coach
Brian Stevens said. “The first half he
really just ate us up. He scored at will.
We were doubling him, helping in the
paint when he drove, then he pulled out
and made jumpers. He hasn’t done that
all season. Credit to him, he spent the
two weeks off working on his jumper, he
just said, and he hit it.”
With Foster controlling the tempo,
the Sea-Kings were able to get out and
run, to the tune of 34 fast break points.
They were up 18 at halftime, and 19 in
the third quarter.
The Sea-Kings looked to run on
misses and made shots from the
Capitals, a strategy that Stevens said
put their biggest offensive weapon, cen-
ter Vincent Boumann, at a disadvantage.
“Vince is unique, he’s 6 foot 10, 280,”
Stevens said. “It’s hard to stop him in
the post, there isn’t anyone else in our
league that can. But at the same time,
it’s hard for a big body to get back on
defense against a bunch of thorough-
breds. Multiple times after made shots
they got out and got dunks, and that
should never happen.”
Boumann was able to get his on the
offensive end, scoring 29. But the Sea-
Kings length and athleticism didn’t
make it easy for him, as he shot 50%
from the floor and 9-of-10 from the free
throw line.
“I definitely had to work extra hard
and stay focused,” Boumann said.
“It’s hard when you got guys hanging
on your back, and all my shots were
contested.”
The Capitals were able to storm
back late in the third, closing out the
Rain,
rain,
go away
By JOSHUA MANES
Of the Keizertimes
April showers bring more than just May
flowers. For McNary athletics, and other
area high schools, they bring on the logis-
tical headache of having to cancel and
reschedule games.
This month has been unseasonably wet,
even for the Pacific Northwest, and this year
the task of rescheduling games has become
even more complicated. Not fully because
final three minutes of the quarter with
a 14-4 run and cutting the deficit down
to eight.
The run continued into the fourth,
tying the game at 95 with a little more
than seven minutes to play.
“We were scrappy, we were small,”
Stevens said. “Their size wasn’t finish-
ing. We were getting tips. And then,
Foster came back in the game, and he
just controlled it from there.”
The Sea-Kings closed out the game
with a 26-10 run.
Saturday was the second time this
season the Capitals have lost to the Sea-
Kings. Both teams now sit tied on the
top of the West at 11-3.
This was the second loss in as many
nights for the Capitals, as well. They
lost 115-112 to the Vancouver Volcanoes
on Friday.
“These aren’t hiccups,” Stevens said.
“This has been building up the last six
games before this. Here we are at eight
games now, and now we’ve lost these
two. Those previous six games our
defense started falling off. Our help-
side’s not what it was during the first
eight games of the season.”
Stevens said they have and will con-
tinue to focus on these things in prac-
tice. But as the coach, he puts 100% of
the responsibility and blame on himself.
But even though they’re still tied
for first, Stevens knows they have to be
looking ahead.
“We can’t hand another game to a
team next week,” Stevens said. “We’ve
got to take these next two and solidify
our spot at the top.”
Despite the two losses and recent
defensive troubles, confidence is still
high with the Capitals.
Point guard Montigo Alford sees it
as just a way to prove the quality level
of this team.
“Every good team’s got to go through
something,” Alford said. “Now we’re
sitting at 11-3, we’re a great team still.
We just have to tighten up and become
more sharp as a unit. That’s it, once we
do that, as a group it stays tight and
we keep our chemistry, we only beat
ourselves.”
Capitals center Vincent Boumann throws a pass over his shoulder in the game against the California Sea-Kings on Saturday,
April 23, at the Salem Armory Auditorium. The Capitals lost 121-105, and are tied for first with the Sea-Kings at 11-3.
Photo by JOSHUA MANES of the Keizertimes
of the rain, but due to a lack of officials, ath-
letic director Scott Gragg said.
With less available officials, last minute
rescheduling the week of, or even the day of,
isn’t always a viable option, despite what the
schools want.
And the officials are just one piece of the
puzzle.
According to Gragg, there is a list of at
least 10 people that have responsibilities on
game day that need to be informed about
a cancellation or rescheduling. Coaching
staffs, trainers, charter buses, janitorial
crews and more need to be kept in the mix
on gameday.
But Gragg doesn’t take the credit for the
work that is done. He gives 99% of the credit
to his athletic secretary.
“When you have a good support staff
and a good group of leaders the stress isn’t
as much,” Gragg said.
Gragg credits the coaching staff for
doing everything possible to get games
played, saying three or four were played
because of the coaches.
Gragg also has to weigh which games
to reschedule first. According to Gragg, the
emphasis is on varsity league games, which
must be played prior to May 19 to count in
the standings.
While Gragg credits the coaches, head
softball coach Kelly Parsell gives it to the
players.
“The girls have done a real good job at
staying flexible, being ready for practice,
being ready for a game,” Parsell said. “I think
the South [Salem] game last Thursday was a
good testament to how they’re ready to go at
any time. I definitely went into that thinking
we’d be rained out. The girls were ready to
practice and then by 2 o’clock we were like
“Alright, we’re going to give it a shot,” and
they came out and played better than we’ve
seen all year.”
That flexibility must be shown not only
in readiness to play, but for where they’ll
play.
Last week, baseball had a Thursday-
Friday doubleheader with South Salem.
Thursday was initially scheduled as a home
game for South Salem, but due to the condi-
tions of Gilmore Field the game was moved
to McNary last minute. Friday’s game was
then moved to Gilmore, but any rain in the
area by 3 p.m. that day would have forced the
game back over to McNary.
As Gragg deals with the logistics of
rescheduling, the coaches deal with the
strain on the roster.
“I don’t know if the girls would see this
as much but we have to think about our
pitchers,” Parsell said. “Now we have a dou-
bleheader against McCay and that changes
things. Ellie’s a catcher, five games in one
week is a lot for a catcher so we’re going to
have to think about how we can balance that
out and provide relief but still allow for the
girls to continue to grow and prepare for the
games in the future.”