Day: February 7, 2017

By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes Back at full strength, McNary did what it does best—score in transition. With four players in double digits, the Celtics routed West Albany 78-47 at home on Friday, Feb. 3. The Bulldogs scored the first basket of the game but McNary, using a 1-3-1 zone defense, responded with a 15-2 run. “We intended to come out strong and respond differently than others games because we were in a slump,” said McNary senior Adam Harvey, who finished with 15 points. “We wanted to come out with a lot of energy and play to our strengths. On defense, we were really getting a lot of deflections on the ball and getting a piece of it and getting on transition for easy layups.” After West Albany knocked down a 3-pointer, the Celtics ended the first quarter with a 15-7 lead. McNary then continued to dominate in the second period, opening with a 14-5 run, capped off by a 3-point play and then 3-pointer by junior Lucas Garvey off the bench. Garvey finished with 13 points but Celtics coach Ryan Kirch was just as impressed with his defense. “He really set the tone,” Kirch said. “You look at guys like Matt (Ismay) and Adam (Harvey) and you expect them to do those things all the time but Lucas’ development to where he was at at the beginning...

By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes McNary head coach Derick Handley told his girls basketball team to keep playing hard even when shots weren’t falling or things weren’t going their way. They listened as the Lady Celts came from behind to defeat West Albany 35-29 on Friday, Feb. 3. “Tonight was a great example that they (West Albany) had a lead and we still played hard and if you do that long enough good things will start to happen for you,” Handley said. The Lady Celts trailed 27-24 when the game turned with 2:10 remaining as McNary senior Sydney Hunter, playing with four fouls, stole the basketball, made a layup on the other end and was fouled. “I was just trying to make contact because I knew we were down three,” Hunter said. After Hunter knocked down the free throw to complete the 3-point play and tie the game 27-27, the McNary defense got a stop and Kailey Doutt passed the ball to Abigail Hawley, whose jump shot gave the Lady Celts a 29-27 lead with 1:34 remaining. After West Albany senior Saylor Siegner made two free throws to even the score, Hunter missed the front end of a 1-and-1 but got a defensive rebound and went back to the line. Hunter made the first free throw, missed the second but got the offensive rebound and the ball to...