There’s plenty of new faces on the roster for McNary boys basketball, and a dominant performance from one of those new faces helped secure a win Tuesday night at home against Aloha.
Junior Esai Carrasquillo’s 10 point 10 rebound double-double led the way for the Celts in the 64-27 win to start the season 2-0. It was Carrasquillo’s second game with double-digit boards after starting the season with 13 against Reynolds.
“I’ve been working all off-season on my jumps and everything, so I know I can jump high, I can get the ball,” Carrasquillo said. “So yeah, I’m expecting to get those rebounds.”
McNary head coach Ryan Kirch said that the coaching staff noticed Carrasquillo’s rebounding prowess early on in practice, noting his body position and ability to high-point the ball.
The game script of Carrasquillo and the Celts dominating the offensive glass was clear from the start. Carrasquillo had three offensive rebounds before the Celts even got on the board — poetically on a putback after a Carrasquillo offensive rebound.
And as the first McNary basket of the night reflected that part of the story, their second showed the dominant press defense that has become a Celtic staple.
After Carrasquillo’s put back the Celts pressured the inbounds. Ethan Wollangk came away with a steal in the back court, dished it off to Carrasquillo who laid it in to put the Celts up 4-2, a lead they would not release.
As a team the Celts had 16 steals and 14 pass deflections, with Aloha rarely able to set up any sort of half-court offense. The Warriors only had one made field goal in the first quarter.
It was a slow start offensively for McNary, missing their first nine shots despite the ability to clean up the glass. But after the first the flood gates opened.
“Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t. We’re more concerned about the process,” Kirch said. “If there’s 10 steps, the ball goes in, that’s the last step. We do eight of nine things right, we will take that. Eventually we know the shot will fall.”
And fall they did. Despite shooting just over 37% from the field the Celts surpassed last season’s scoring average of just under 60 points per game. Much in part to a balanced offensive attack.
While only two were in double-digits — junior Steven Adams had 10 points along with Carrasquillo — the Celts had 10 players score, five that scored at least six points.
Adams was one of the few known commodities on the Celtics roster following a second-team all-conference selection last year in his sophomore season. It’s been a slow start for Adams this season compared to some expectations, but Kirch actually sees it as a positive having to lean on other guys to score early in the season.
“It’s always great to be a well-rounded team, it’s more difficult to guard a team that has other guys who are scoring. So in the long run, Steven not shooting the ball as well as he wants to right now will, I think, be a blessing in disguise for us long term,” Kirch said.
Aydn Dallum had nine points and six rebounds, providing something the Celts haven’t had in a few seasons, a back-to-the-basket scorer.
“There’s also times we’ve got to stop and allow our big some opportunities to work inside,” Kirch said. “And so that’s what we had talked about. Wanted to try to get him some screens, try to get him some stuff inside and move a little bit. He hit a trail three and he ripped and went to the rim one time.”
McNary will hit the road for the first time this season on Friday with a trip to David Douglas. The Scots are 2-1, winners of their last two games. The two teams met last year at McNary, an 82-72 win for David Douglas in the third game of the season.
This season’s schedule opens with the same five opponents the Celts had last season. They opened the 2022-23 season 4-1. On Friday, the Celts can take a step on improving that opening mark in the first five games.
