Wilsonville Spokesman Online

Wilsonville 85, Liberty 49: Wildcats cement their spot in first place

Liberty never comes close as No. 2 Wildcats win by 36 on Friday

• By: Alex Tam  
• Published: 2/19/2010 8:40:08 AM
• Last Updated: 2/23/2010 2:57:47 PM

Photo By: Alex TamBoys basketball: Wilsonville 85, Liberty 49
Wilsonville High School sophomore Grant McNiel goes up for a layup over Liberty High School sophomore Mike Gregory for two of his 19 points in Friday’s 85-49 victory at Liberty High School. The Wildcats sit in first place in the Northwest Oregon Conference with a 10-1 league record.

HILLSBORO – It hasn’t taken long for Grant McNiel to feel like he’s fit in.

The Wilsonville High School sophomore has already solidified himself as a big part of the program’s future.

And McNiel showed his potential with 19 points and four rebounds in Friday’s 85-49 domination over Liberty at Liberty High School.

For McNiel, he said the nerves of playing at the varsity level were over midway through the first game of the season.

“I just do whatever the coach wants me to do on the floor,” McNiel said. “I’m feeling a lot more comfortable.”

The 6-1 wing was all over the place on Friday, showing toughness defensively and finding open spots on the offensive end to help the No. 2 Wildcats win their fifth straight game.

Coach Chris Roche said he loves the toughness that McNiel brings to the game, and his all-out approach defensively and willingness to dive for loose balls.

“He’s going to be a real good player and he’s already pretty tough,” Roche said. “But as he figures things out more and more, and matures and gets older, I expect him to have a big role in this program. But it was nice to see him play and bust out a little bit because he’s very capable.”

And Friday’s game was a no contest from the opening tip as Wilsonville jumped out to a 12-2 lead, and took a 40-19 halftime lead.

The Wildcats had no trouble defending Liberty’s array of substitutions, including shuttling as many as five guys in and out every few minutes.

“It’s hard to defend when they’re always shuttling in players,” McNiel said. “You have to get matched up and everything, and you have to talk more and I think we did a pretty good job.”

Roche said he was happy with how his team handled it.

“They present some challenges that are different than a normal game,” Roche said. “And it’s not anything that’s overly complicated but it takes quite a bit of mental toughness and leadership, and those are areas that we seem to be improving in.”

Wilsonville continued to pour it on in the second half, leading by as many as 36 points in the third quarter, and by 38 in the fourth quarter at 76-38 with 4:28 to go in the game.

The Wildcats finished a stretch of five of seven games on the road, going 4-1 in those games with their lone loss being a 44-42 defeat to Hillsboro.

“It’s really important to play well on the road because half of our games are on the road,” McNiel said. “And you’re a lot better team when you can play well on the road. You have adversity and stuff, and you don’t have the home crowd behind your back.”

Senior Michael MacKelvie had 21 points, 12 rebounds and four steals for the Wildcats, and senior Seth Gearhart added 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Sophomore point guard Kevin Marshall had five points, six assists, six deflections on defense, and just two turnovers as he continues his stellar play in setting up the offense.

“He initiated our offense time and again very well against immense pressure, and he did not flinch,” Roche said. “He also played about as good on defense as anybody we have had this year in any game – he was absolutely phenomenal.”

Junior Joel Tokple led Liberty with 11 points.

The Wildcats shot 31 of 50 from the field (62 percent) and 21 of 32 from the free-throw line (65.7 percent). Liberty was 17 of 63 from the field (27 percent).

Wilsonville (20-2 overall, 10-1 Northwest Oregon) remains in first place in the NWOC with three games remaining.

Entering the week, the Wildcats hold a two-game lead over Glencoe (12-8, 8-3) and Hillsboro (11-11, 8-3).

While it would be easy to look ahead to Friday’s rematch with Hillsboro at home, Roche said his team continues to simply look at one game at a time. The Wildcats host Parkrose on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

“Right now, the only thing that matters for us is having fun,” Roche said. “And have a good effort against Parkrose.”

Wilsonville 36, Century 31: The Wildcats defeated Century, 36-31, on Tuesday, Feb. 9 on the road.

It marked the first time in school history that Wilsonville has beaten the Jaguars at Century High School.

The Wildcats led 12-4 after the first quarter, and 24-14 at halftime. Wilsonville hung on in the second half despite scoring just 12 points, leading 32-22 entering the fourth.

Gearhart had a team-high 17 points, Marshall added six and McNiel had five.

Bobby Rollinger led Century with 11 points.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Wilsonville Wildcats	24	16	26	19	85
Liberty Falcons	11	8	12	18	49

Wilsonville – Michael MacKelvie 21, McNeil 19, Gearhart 17, Koford 8, Conroy 6, James 5, Marshall 5, Schwarzer 2, Etzel 2, Munson, Livesay, Shelton
Liberty – Joel Tokple 11, Rivers 6, Gregory 5, Josefek 5, Steindorf 5, AJ Anderson 3, D Anderson 3, Jenkins 3, Sollman 2, Schneider 2, Santollo 2, Hosner 2

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Wilsonville Wildcats	12	12	8	4	36
Century Jaguars	4	10	8	9	31

Wilsonville – Seth Gearhart 17, Marshall 6, McNiel 5, MacKelvie 4, Schwarzer 4,  Etzel, James, Koford, Conroy
Century – Bobby Rollinger 11, Brock 9, Kueener 5, Koberstein 2, Minnis 2, Blosl 2, Alexander, Gower

  (log in to rate)