By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

BEAVERTON, Ore.— What the Beaverton Beavers had to offer, the McKay Royal Scots have seen before this season.

Size similar to the South Salem Saxons, (and Top-Ranked team like the Saxons) and that Metro League talent like Century.

So, it was safe to say that McKay was ready for Beaverton Tuesday night; and they came out firing.

But the difference came down to rebounding as the Beavers converted them into fastbreak points for an 88-74 victory as both teams return to league play Friday.

“Part of it is how we play, and they’re a really good team,” said Scots Head Coach Dean Sanderson.  “They’re a really good teams that are athletic, they shoot it.  We were a step slow a couple of times to take a charge and we they took advantage of a few opportunities.”

Sanderson enjoyed the performance by his team however on the road versus a Top-10 caliber team in Beaverton.

“I do believe we gave a good effort, we just ran out of gas a little bit,” said Sanderson.  “We didn’t get to practice because of the snow day and I don’t think that helped us.

“But we were within five in the fourth quarter against the 10^th-ranked team on the road.  There are some good things that came from it.”

McKay came out with the Eye of The Tiger, or the Scot, as they pressed and pushed the Metro League Beavers and having the advantage on the court because of it.

“We saw guys like Demerius Bailey boxing out,” said Sanderson.  “Shaton’s (Daniels) back and he helps us in a lot of ways,” “You’ve seen guys gaining confidence.”

But their was one faucet that was against them however.

Shots that got them into a 11-3 hole early.

McKay would rallied and cut the lead to 22-16 midway through the second as their shots began to fall.

But, they lost some mojo rebounding offensively during the second quarter as Beaverton turned rebounds into a 13-3 run with fast breaks.

“Since we’re a small team (and) they’re taller than us, we have to box out and fight for the rebound,” said Daniels on the fastbreaks by the Beavers. “Just force over the back balls.”

Needing a spark down 35-19, Khyler Beach did just that with that with ‘And One’ feat.

The 16-point Beaverton lead was quickly reduced to nine entering halftime as McKay found themselves in a manageable 37-28 deficit with some momentum

The second half started with back and forth blows with shots, but with the Beavers not missing a shot, it was hard for the Scots to cut into the lead any further than eight points.

Fouls on Tristen Wilson sent Beaverton to the line, resulting in a 5-0 run by the Beavers as they continued their dominance rebounding.

Those fouls hurt McKay following a 5-0 run to cut it to seven midway through the third, but the Scots kept it to single-digits digits entering the fourth quarter.

With a Wilson three-pointer in amidst a McKay run cut it to five two minutes into the fourth quarter.

“I think we did good, but in the beginning we didn’t play as good as we could,” said Daniels. “At the end, we started fighting back more and playing tough as we should.”

That would be the closest that the Scots would get however as Beaverton turned rebounds into fastbreak points in part of an 11-0 run en route to the victory.

With the preseason all wrapped up, McKay (4-7, 1-2 Greater Valley Conference) now look to the Titans of West Salem and the GVC.

“I don’t think West Salem is going to be ready for our intensity, our effort, our energy and the pace of the game,” said Sanderson.  “They better be ready for Friday.”