Gresham 70, McNary 42: Five Takeaways

<p>As conference games approach, a number of intriguing non-league contests remain on the schedule. Once such game was on Tuesday night when Gresham visited McNary. The Gophers were without their head coach but in the end it didn't matter as they used pressure defense and a balanced offense to bounce back from a loss and run past the Celtics, 70-42.</p> <p>Gresham came into the game after suffering their first loss of the season to Aloha, a game in which head coach Erik Lyslo was ejected and subsequently was not able to participate against McNary. Assistant coach Ben Kittleson - known as "Cutty" - took the game plan and had his guys execute it to near perfection. The Gophers took control of the game early and never looked back. With a defense honed in on 6A's leading scorer Nate Meithof, the Gophers consistently forced turnovers and were able to capitalize on the offensive end and the game was never in doubt through to the final horn.</p> <p><strong>Gresham On the Rise</strong></p> <p>Nine games into the season, Gresham sits at 8-1, ranked #5 in the power rankings - perhaps nobody except for head coach Erik Lyslo could have perceived this a couple of years ago. The Gophers still have a lot to prove - and it will come quickly at Central Catholic on Thursday - but they've done the job so far and a road win against a potential Mountain Valley playoff contender in McNary is nothing to sneeze at. Talk to the Gresham players and they'll tell you that the state tournament is the goal. It will be tough, especially in a league as high-powered as the Mt. Hood Conference this season, but if the Gophers continue playing the way they have been, it's a possibility.</p> <p><strong>Balance and Transition for the Gophers</strong></p> <p>A couple of years ago, Gresham was heavily dependent on <strong>Ethan Abrahamson</strong> and his shooting ability. Now the senior is still getting his shots but the wealth is spread around. The senior was an extremely efficient 7-for-9 from the field and a lot of it had to do with how well the team was passing and moving the ball. And others were involved - wing <strong>Elijah Munyan</strong> had 12, senior <strong>Jaylen Welch</strong> came off the bench to score 13, as did <strong>Nate Caro</strong> with 9 (three threes). Freshman point guard <strong>Esyah Pippa-White</strong> didn't have his shot going so he dished out six assists instead. And off of every McNary turnovers, the Gophers pushed the ball and got on the break. The result - a lot of easy points.</p> <p><strong>Munyan is a Special Athlete</strong></p> <p>He's still bouncing back from an ankle injury but if Tuesday night's game was any indication, Munyan is close to being back - and when he's 100 percent we had all better watch out. The 6-foot-3 junior is arguably the state's top leaper and late in the game, he caught and completed two extremely impressive alley-oop dunks that had the road crowd in awe. Earlier in the game, he registered some impressive blocked shots coming from the weak side. The other parts of his game are still in refinement but when it comes to raw athleticism, it's definitely Division I quality - as reflected in the early interest from Pepperdine.</p> <p><strong>Experience for the Celtics</strong></p> <p>It was a rough evening for McNary, which saw its star player <strong>Nate Meithof</strong> struggle from the field (season-low 5 points on 2-for-12 shooting, 0-for-5 for three). The Celtics also struggled with turnovers and getting back on the defensive end. But head coach Ryan Kirch sees the game as a positive experience for his team, who only returned one player with any sort of varsity experience (Meithof). Point guard <strong>Jando Gonzalez</strong> is learning on the fly as a freshman and he flashed a nice-looking jumper with range in addition to some headiness handling the ball. Sophomores <strong>Tyler Copeland</strong> and <strong>Junior Nunez</strong> played fearlessly as well. There's no question that this game will be lessons learned for this young team for the future.</p> <p><strong>Game of the Night</strong></p> <p>There were a lot of great non-league games across the state in 6A, but how many games featured top AAU coaches and arguably one of the school's all-time greats in attendance? No fewer than four of the most prominent club coaches in the state were in attendance at McNary High School and one time star Celtics forward Phil Nelson ('06) was on the sidelines taking in the action. Nelson noted after the game that he recently moved back to the Salem/Keizer area and it will be nice to see the former Washington Husky/Portland State Viking back around the game again. While the result may not have been close as anticipated, it was still a well-attended mid-week high school contest.</p>