×

Quakers wake up in time to stop Liverpool

SALEM — If the Salem boys basketball team wants to make some noise down the stretch this season, the Quakers know they need more of the purposeful intensity they showed in the third quarter Tuesday against East Liverpool and less of the lapses in concentration they had in the first half.

After trailing East Liverpool 26-24 at halftime, the Quakers noticeably picked things up in the second half and were able to cruise home with a 68-47 victory in the Kent State Columbiana County Classic at Cabas Gymnasium.

Salem improves to 7-8 overall, while the Potters lose their fourth game in a row and fall to 7-8.

“We did not get after it at all in the first half,” Salem coach Rich Hart said. “I don’t know why, but we thought we could go through the motions and get it done. But we were able to up the intensity and play much better in the second half.”

The Quakers shot a woeful 9-for-40 in the first half, including 3-for-17 from three point range, but were able to get themselves revved up with five steals and three threes in the first four minutes of the third quarter to open up a 39-29 lead that only kept growing the rest of the way. The Potters had seven turnovers in the third quarter after committing seven in the first half.

“Coach Hart was real mad at halftime, but he does a good job of getting us fired up,” Salem senior Mitch Davidson said. “We had zero intensity in the first half so we knew we had to come out a lot stronger especially on defense. We put more pressure on the ball and moved a lot better.”

Davidson fought through constant double-teams from the Potters and finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Chase Ackerman added 11 points and nine rebounds. Braydon Gibson drained three three-pointers to finish with 13 points, while Zach Bezon had seven points and seven rebounds.

“With two guys on me, there was always going to be somebody open,” Davidson said. “Our offense flowed a lot better in the second half. We did a lot better job of moving the ball.”

The Potters were dealing with their fourth game in five nights as well as the absence of leading scorer Gabe Roach, who was nursing both the cold and a leg injury according to Conley.

Tre’ Jackson returned after missing three games with the flu and finished with 14 points, while Brennan O’Hara had 12 points. Nick Woodyard contributed 10 points.

“We’re not very deep to begin with and with playing so many games recently, I thought we ran out of steam a little bit in the second half,” Conley said. “Losing Gabe tonight was a tough blow because that’s 20 points and 32 minutes you’re taking out of the lineup. But the guys who filled his role stepped up great tonight.

Despite being undermanned, East Liverpool competed hard out of the gate and stuck right with the Quakers in the first half one night after surrendering 74 points to Edison.

“That was probably one of the better first halves we’ve played all season,” Conley said. “We really focused on the areas we were weak in which was defense and rebounding and I was really impressed with how we came out and fought tonight. If we battle like that then we’ll get back to where we were early in the season.”

The Quakers get back to Northeastern Buckeye Conference play Friday with a tough test at home against Louisville. The Potters travel to Beaver Local Thursday.

“We’ve got to play a full 32 minutes of basketball the rest of the way,” Hart said. “You can’t play a half against Louisville and beat them, that’s impossible. We have to do everything fundamentally sound to beat the good teams.”

Game notes

¯ Thursday’s game at Beaver Local kicks off another brutal stretch where the Potters will play four games in five days.

“Hopefully this stretch was a learning experience for us,” Conley said. “We finally get to practice tomorrow and address some things that we’ve been struggling with.”

¯ Jackson had to switch from his usual number 11 to 25 in the first quarter after getting blood on his jersey.

“He got a cut on his elbow about five games ago and it breaks open every single game,” Conley said. “He switched to my old high school number so I was hoping it would give him good luck.”

¯ As part of Kent State’s sponsorship of the game, the Quakers were presented with a traveling plaque from Dean Dr. David Dees after the game.

¯ Salem won the jayvee game 59-36. Jaren Snyder had 16 points for the Quakers. Timmy Neal had 16 points for the Potters.

EAST LIVERPOOL: 10-16-10-11–47

SALEM: 16-8-26-18–68

EAST LIVERPOOL SCORING: Brennan O’Hara 4-3-12, Logan Torma 0-0-0, Tre Jackson 4-4-14, Timmy Neal 2-0-4, Sobaan Razi 0-3-3, Izaiah Browning 0-0-0, Nick Woodyard 4-2-10, Jalen Moman 2-0-4. TEAM TOTALS: 16, 12-24: 47.

SALEM SCORING: Josh Young 2-0-5, Niko Walters 0-0-0, Seth Shivers 3-0-7, Turner Johnson 2-0-4, Braydon Gibson 5-0-13, Zach Bezon 3-0-7, Mitch Davidson 6-3-17, Chase Ackerman 4-3-11, Trey Double 2-0-4. TEAM TOTALS: 27, 6-8: 68.

Three-point goals: East Liverpool 3 (Jackson 2, O’Hara), Salem 8 (Gibson 3, Davidson 2, Young, Shivers, Bezon)

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today