SALEM, Ore.– McKay had the height and the press versus North Salem and their scrappyness.

Through the fight late by the Vikings, led by the aggressive play of Syndee Rupp, the Royal Scots slipped out with a 29-18 victory.

But McKay head coach Arthur Lee-Horton knows that there is one area that his team needs to work on.

“We need to do a better job finishing (the game),” he said walking to the locker room.  “We need to work on finishing the game.”

The press of the McKay girls team wore down the North Salem squad in the first half, with the Scots inviting the Viks to the corners but could only mustered six first half points behind Syndee Rupp and Kelsey Blackbird, a three apiece.

Down 6-5, the Scots Kashandra Ventura Isiordia alone matched that with six points of her own, her game total and team high, in the second frame as Mckay took a 12-6 lead into halftime.

The struggles for the Vikings offense were turnovers and the struggles to make adjustments on the run of what the Scots were giving them.

“We allowed ourselves to get a little too comfortable,” said North Salem’s Brent Turner.  “(We were) Thinking, ‘we have this.  We hit some wide open shots.  The game’s flowing, we’re up by one’.  We’re thinking, ‘we can compete with this team’.

“Then all of a sudden, they throw something different at you and you can’t adjust and they weren’t able to adjust.”

The frame reminded Turner of the game against Thurston the previous Friday.

“We broke Thurston’s press, then they threw a different type of zone at us,” Turner started.  “Half-court zone and we couldn’t break that zone and they picked us apart.”

Entering the second half, the Vikings were still scoreless and the McKay lead growing before Rupp got  North back on board with 1:36 left in the third quarter with a hard foul on a lay-up.

With a smile, she got up and walked to the line.  It was their first basket since late in the first quarter as the Viks started to slowly making halftime adjustments as Janel Urbina added a free throw entering the fourth quarter.

Both teams had foul problems in the final frame, but North finally had life to them.  Fighting, scrapping, frustration to an extent that they let this game get away from them.

They went 7-12 from the line, taking full advantage of McKay’s foul trouble in the final frame.

Despite the success at the line, North (0-4, 0-1 Greater Valley Conference) couldn’t get enough offense going to mount a comeback against rival McKay.

“At halftime we made some adjustments,” said Turner.  “It worked a little too late we came out of halftime.  They didn’t make the adjustments like they did against Parkrose in the third quarter.

“They waited and waited, I saw yelling , ‘get after them, get after them’.  Then fourth quarter, it started clicking and we started attacking.  We were doing things I wanted them to do in the first quarter.”

Turner looks ahead to McNary and how they can improve.  It’s all about getting reps in practice and seeing the whole court ahead of them and remembering ‘Take the shoulder, run them over’

“We have to be able to face our opponents.  Not be so scared and turn our backs to them, face our opponent and she’s in your face and drive.  Drive, Drive, Drive.”

“When you attack the shoulder, your attacking half the body.  They try to slide with you, it’s a blocking foul, 90-percent of the time.  If you beat them there, or if your tied, it goes to the offense.  If they don’t, they’ll open up and go with you and either way you win.”

For the Scots (1-2, 1-0 GVC) their focus will now be on to Sprauge (1-3, 0-1 GVC) at home Tuesday night.