PORTLAND — The Celtics figured since they had played the No. 1 seed for the OSAA Class 6A state basketball tournament earlier this season, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal playing them in a bigger environment.
McNary High School’s girls basketball team learned otherwise.
No. 1 seed Jesuit used it’s full-court press and shot well early and only had a brief letdown to beat McNary 52-33 on Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the OSAA Class 6A state tournament at the Chiles Center.
“We knew that they were going to come out and pressure us,” McNary coach Derick Handley said. “We were the new kids on the block, and we did our best to get them mentally ready for that, but there’s only so much you can replicate when you see all the press row and see the crowd, and it’s a different experience for them.
“And so they were very smart in that. It gave them a big lead early, and that was kind of a battle the entire game.”
South Salem knocks off Oregon City in state tournament opener
No. 8 seed McNary (21-6) plays Oregon City in Thursday’s consolation semifinals at 9 a.m. while No. 1 seed Jesuit (23-3) advances to play South Salem in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Friday
“You can’t really be sad about it,” said Sydney Hunter, who scored nine points and had five rebounds. “You have to move on.”
Hunter’s rebound basket cut Jesuit’s lead to 7-6 with 5:11 left in the first quarter, but Jesuit went on an 11-1 run and its lead was never under double digits after that.
Jesuit led 40-19 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter.
McNary put together an 8-0 run and Reina Strand’s basket cut the deficit to 40-27 after three quarters.
“I think in the beginning of the game we weren’t really playing as a team, we were kind of doing our own things, and I think we finally started playing as a team, using each other to get open and stuff,” Hunter said.
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“Once our run stopped and they started scoring, we kind of froze and we didn’t know what to do.”
Jesuit shot 43 percent (19 of 44) from the field for the game, including 45 percent (5 of 11) from 3-point range.
McNary couldn’t keep up with the Crusaders’ hot hands.
“Honestly, the shooting percentage comes from Jesuit had easier looks than we did,” Handley said. “They worked harder without the ball in their hands. They were getting the spots, for the most part. I feel that the stage got a little big in the first quarter, and you could tell that we came out apprehensive. We did some stuff that we didn’t do all year, even in the playoff games. From there, it turned into we’re pressing a little bit.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler
McNary’s Madi Hingston (21) makes a break for the basket in a game against Jesuit in the first round of the OSAA Class 6A state tournament on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, at the University of Portland. McNary lost the round to Jesuit 52-33.
McNary’s Sydney Hunter (32) pushes back against Jesuit defense in the first round of the OSAA Class 6A state tournament on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, at the University of Portland. McNary lost the round to Jesuit 52-33.