News Sports Politics Outdoors Life Opinion Obituaries E-Edition Legals
South Salem girls basketball gets scare from McNary
By Bill Poehler;
There wasn't a person in the gym Friday night who wasn't at least a little surprised, pleasantly or not, by what they were witnessing.
McNary High School's girls basketball team, the same one that started the season 4-10, took a 13-3 lead in the first quarter against No. 7-ranked South Salem and led the majority of the first three quarters.
But in the fourth quarter, the Saxons finally answered the challenge, holding McNary to one field goal in the period to earn a 47-42 home win Friday night in a Central Valley Conference game.
"I think their defense was good, but we did also get a lot of open shots. They weren't falling," said South Salem junior Katie McWilliams, who scored 18 points.
"The last couple games we had in league we were hitting everything and we get into this game, and nothing was dropping for us. They ended up dropping in the end. That's all that really matters, I guess."
South Salem increases its lead in the CVC by improving to 6-0 in the league and 14-5 overall while dropping the Celtics to 4-2 in the league and 8-11 overall.
For a McNary team with one senior – Baili Keeton, who scored 10 points – that lost 60-42 to South Salem the first time the teams played this season, it showed a significant improvement.
"South is a good team," said McNary sophomore Madi Hingston. "We came out confident. We talked about our game plan and we stuck to it."
South Salem was delivered its first blow of the game when freshman Evina Westbrook, the team's third-leading scorer, suffered an ankle injury on the first play of the game and didn't return until the third.
Combined with a good mix of zone and man-to-man defense, the Saxons struggled offensively early, and the Celtics led 17-12 on a Kaelie Flores basket late in the first quarter.
"They mixed things up," South Salem coach Nick McWilliams said. "They went man for a while, than they went into a zone. We were without Eve, and so it took one of our weapons away. They focused on Katie and Jordan (Woodvine), but they did a nice, nice job.
"We haven't given up 17 points in a quarter all season long, I don't think, and they came out and put 17 on us first quarter. It was good because we did wake up and really started to play like we're capable of, especially down the stretch."
South Salem took a brief lead at 24-23 with just over a minute left after a Katie McWilliams basket following a steal, but Reina Strand gave the Celtics a 25-24 lead at half.
McNary got hot in the third quarter – including eight points by freshman Sydney Hunter – and led 37-31 going to the fourth.
"I think we got a lot of defensive stops," Hingston said. "We were playing together really well, and our offense was really working. We were just really pumped up and we really came out strong in the first three quarters."
The maturity of South Salem – combined with Westbrook returning to the game – showed in the fourth quarter as the Saxons tied the game on a three-point play by Westbrook with 3:30 left, and a McWilliams basket from underneath put South Salem up for good.
For a South Salem team that had dominated all of its league opponents prior to Friday's game, trailing in the fourth was a new experience.
"When we were down in the third and fourth quarter, I'm not really happy," Katie McWilliams said. "I'm not very happy. I kind of freak out a little bit.
"I think we did panic in the third quarter when we were down by (six) points, but somehow we got it together rand started making our shots and made a comeback."
South Salem 47, McNary 42
Baili Keeton 10, Flores 9, Hunter 8, Hingston 8, Strand 6, Koenig 1, Ernest, Jones. Totals 15 9-17 42.
Katie McWilliams 18, Woodvine 17, Westbrook 5, Bodine 3, Donovan 3, McNally 1, Moorman, Wasser. Totals 13 21-29 47.
3-point goals: MCN 3 (Hingston 2, Keeton 1); SS 0. Rebounds: SS 31 (McWilliams 11). Assists: SS 5 (McWilliams 21, Moorman 2).
Records: South Salem (13-5, 6-0), McNary (4-2).
JV— South Salem.
© 2021 www.statesmanjournal.com. All rights reserved.