×

Salem finding ways to win

SALEM — Revenge is sweet — just ask the growing Salem Quakers.

Salem, which dropped a five-point (59-54) decision to Minerva in its season opener back on Dec. 6, turned the tables on the Lions in their rematch in Cabas Gymnasium Friday night, recording a 48-38 Eastern Buckeye Conference boys’ basketball triumph.

The win marked a 15-point swing from Salem’s earlier meeting with the Lions and the ever-improving Quakers, who are playing as many as seven underclassmen in their lineup at different times, have now won two of their last four games.

“Any time you get a win, we’re very, very happy,” said Salem head coach Jeff Andres. “We’re getting better.”

Minerva head coach Shawn Green agreed.

“Absolutely, they (the Quakers) have gotten better,” said Green. “Coach (Andres) is doing a great job with them, they’ve shuffled their lineup around and their young guys come in and make plays. I think the new guys he has in there has given them a new boost of athleticism.”

With the win, Salem is now 2-10 overall and 2-5 in the EBC, while the Lions are 5-9 overall and 1-6 in league play.

“We didn’t play defense in the first half,” said Green. “That’s one thing we hang our hat on because we’ve been really good defensively, but giving up a 30-point (first) half, we’re not good enough offensively to beat anybody (when that happens).”

Pacing Salem was 6-4 sophomore Drew Weir who took game-scoring honors with 13 points, including a trio of three-pointers. He scored seven crucial points, including a dagger three-pointer from the corner in the fourth quarter, answering a Minerva run and keeping the Quakers in command.

“It (scoring the key points) felt pretty good,” said Weir who quickly deflected the attention away from himself and to his teammates. “We’re all hustling and we have good teamwork. We just want to continue to put it together as a team.”

“The young kids played well tonight, Drew (Weir) played well and made some big shots,” praised Andres.

John Null, the Quakers’ 6-1 sophomore, also had a big game with 11 points, while 6-3 junior Hunter Griffith had nine points for the winners and senior Jaren Snyder finished with six markers.

“John Null played well and is a ballhawk (on defense),” said Andres. “And Sammy Walter is coming along and Hunter (Griffith) keeps everything together for us.”

Minerva had no players in double figures, but leading the Lions was 5-9 senior Koby Kinsey and 6-2 junior Noah Sallade with eight points each, while 5-11 sophomore Brayden Costea and 6-3 senior Mitchell Greer added seven points apiece.

Salem’s defense was successful in keeping the Lions from finding any offensive rhythm in the contest.

“We tried to switch it up between man and zone,” explained Andres. “We were throwing some traps a little bit and I know they (the Lions) have some shooters who didn’t shoot it real well tonight. We did a good job of clearing the boards and keeping them to one opportunity because the first time we played them that wasn’t the case, they got some second-chance opportunities.”

The Quakers held quarter-stop leads of 13-8, 30-18 and 39-30 after three. But Minerva began to chip away at the Salem advantage in the final quarter and got as close as six points (42-36) of the Quakers when Steve Place converted a layup with 3:30 left in the game. After a Salem timeout, the Quakers went to a spread in the final three minutes and got two clutch layups by Weir, the last coming with 1:02 left, giving Salem all the breathing room it needed, as the Quakers went up 46-36 and went on to close out the win.

“We dug a hole and we’ve dug a lot of holes early this year, I don’t know why, and we’ve been able to battle out of a couple, but on the road it’s tough,” said Green.

Minerva held off Salem to win the junior varsity game, 40-37. Bronson Ford led the Lions with nine points. Brock Young paced the Quakers with eight markers.

NOTES

• Named Salem’s Winter Homecoming Queen was Alexis Rossi who was selected at halftime of the varsity game.

• The Quakers have two away games next week as they travel to Niles McKinley in an independent game Tuesday night and trek to Alliance Friday evening for an Eastern Buckeye Conference contest with the Aviators.

“We have Niles on Tuesday and we’re going to go after them,” said Andres. “I told the boys afterward (if Salem wins) that would be called a win streak,” quipped the Salem coach. “We’re going to go for it.”

• Minerva plays at Claymont Tuesday night against the Mustangs and will host the Canton South Wildcats Friday night in EBC action.

“They (the Mustangs) play really, really physical and hard,” said Green of Claymont. “They are going to play a similar game to this, where it’s in the 40’s and 30’s and we’ll have our hands full over there.”

MINERVA: 8-10-12-8-38

SALEM: 13-17-9-9-48

MINERVA SCORING: Connor Shingleton 0-0-0, Owen Swogger 2-0-4, Steve Place 1-0-2, Koby Kinsey 3-1-8, Noah Sallade 3-2-8, Brayden Costea 3-1-7, Cody McGrath 0-0-0, Mitchell Greer 3-1-7, Shea Common 1-0-2, Cole Maley 0-0-0 . TEAM TOTALS: 16, 5-8: 38.

SALEM SCORING: Hunter Griffith 3-1-9, Sam Walter 0-4-4, Kaleb Caldwell 1-0-2, Drew Weir 5-0-13, Davin Koskinen 0-0-0, Jon Null 3-5-11, Dillon Monroy 1-1-3, Jaren Snyder 3-0-6. TEAM TOTALS: 16, 11-18: 48.

Three-point goals: Minerva 1 (Koby Kinsey 1). Salem 5 (Drew Weir 3, Hunter Griffith 2). Total fouls: Minerva 20, Salem 10. Fouled out: none.

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