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Warriors edge Quakers in EBC battle

SALEM–The last time the West Branch girls basketball team stepped on the Cabas Gymnasium floor, the Warriors saw their 16-game winning streak against rival Salem snapped.

They will remember Saturday’s game a lot more fondly.

In a back-and-forth slugfest, the Warriors came up with all the key plays they needed down the stretch to survive the upset-minded Quakers 47-44.

“We were really motivated to come in here and get a win today,” West Branch senior Peyton Alazaus said. “Any time we go against them it’s always a tough game. We knew it was going to be a fight.”

The game featured six lead changes in the second half and went right down to the final buzzer, with Salem’s Kyla Jamison missing a three-point attempt as the clock ticked down.

West Branch improves to 8-2 overall and 5-0 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference, maintaining its hold on first place.

The Quakers, coming off a tough month of December, drop their fourth straight game and fall to 5-6, 3-3.

“You can throw all the records out the window when Salem and West Branch play,” West Branch coach Walt DeShields said. “It doesn’t matter who’s playing well, or who’s playing bad coming into the game. It’s a lot of fun to coach in games like this and it was an exciting afternoon for the fans.”

Alazaus led the Warriors with 13 points, while Hannah Ridgway added 12 points.

After Salem built a 24-18 halftime lead, Alazaus ignited her squad with a pair of early threes in the third quarter to tie the game.

“Give credit to Salem, they were all over us early, we weren’t making shots or making good decisions on offense,” DeShields said. “When we hit those threes, it really got us going.”

The teams traded buckets for most of the third quarter before the Quakers shook loose with a 5-0 spurt to open the fourth. An Abbie Davidson three and a floater by Jamison gave Salem a 42-36 lead with 5:39 left, prompting a West Branch timeout.

“We needed to rebound better and do a better job of taking care of the ball,” Alazaus said.

When they needed it most, the Warriors’ defense clamped down the rest of the way, holding Salem to just two points over the final five minutes.

Alazaus had a critical three to cut the lead in half, while Anna Lippiatt buried the go-ahead three with 2:51 left.

Jessica Bock (who had a team-high six rebounds) and Alazaus made sure the lead held up.

Bock battled for an offensive rebound and putback to extend the margin to 45-42. A bucket by Jamison cut the lead back back to to one, but Alazaus cooly drained both ends of a 1-and-1 with 38 seconds left. The West Branch defense finished the job from there.

After the Quakers missed a contested three, West Branch came up empty at the foul line, giving Salem a final chance with 14.4 seconds left. The Quakers couldn’t get off a shot attempt against the swarming Warriors, causing Salem coach Vince Nittoli to call timeout with 4.9 seconds left.

Jamison got a good look from the top of the key out of the timeout, but the shot clanged off the front of the rim.

“We had plenty of opportunities throughout the game,” Nittoli said. “It was a great neck-and-neck battle, it just didn’t go our way.”

The Quakers came out firing, with early threes from Casey Johnson and Jaden Hamilton helping build a quick 8-2 lead. Salem led by as many as nine late in the second quarter.

Jamison led the Quakers with 12 points and six rebounds. Hamilton added 10 points, while Johnson had eight points.

Salem, which lost key pieces Ellie Davidson (graduation) and Echo Mayer-Kutz (injury) from last season’s EBC champion, is now three games back in the conference race.

The Quakers three EBC losses have come by a combined six points.

“We’ve struggled to find an identity,” Nittoli said. “I think our team demeanor is headed in the right direction as we head into the new year, but we have to get more consistent. For the rest of the season, we need to treat every day as an opportunity to get better. We just have to look in the mirror and come out fighting each night for each other.”

Salem continues conference play on Wednesday at home against Minerva. West Branch is at Garfield on Monday.

“We know we’re going to have a target on our back the rest of the way,” Alazaus said. “We just have to keep playing and not take anyone lightly.”

Game notes

¯The Warriors were rescued by their bench in the early going. The second unit scored 10 of West Branch’s 18 first-half points. Riley Tuel was the leading bench scorer with seven points.

“As the season goes on, we’re getting more and more comfortable with them on the floor in key spots,” DeShields said. “In turn, they’ve gained more and more confidence. That was proven in the second quarter today. They kept us in the game.”

¯West Branch guard Carly Scarpitti made her presence felt defensively late in the fourth quarter with a critical steal and a charge taken.

¯West Branch won the jv game 34-31 in overtime. Sydney Mercer scored the go-ahead bucket for the Warriors with 1:20 left. Ava Decker was the leading scorer with 15 points. Alivia Davidson-Chuck led the Quakers with nine points.

WEST BRANCH: 6-12-18-11–47

SALEM: 10-14-13-7–44

WEST BRANCH SCORING: Emma Egli 0-1-1, Jillian Pidgeon 1-0-2, Carly Scarpitti 2-1-5, Bella Laut 0-1-1, Sammie Tuel 0-2-2, Hannah Ridgway 6-0-12, Riley Tuel 3-0-7, Anna Lippiatt 1-0-2, Peyton Alazaus 4-2-13, Jessica Bock 1-0-2. TEAM TOTALS: 18, 7-18: 47.

SALEM SCORING: Abby Perry 0-3-3, Casey Johnson 3-0-8, Annie Davidson 0-0-0, Abbie Davidson 1-0-3, Hayden Carner 0-2-2, Alivia Davidson-Chuck 1-0-2, Krista Barley 0-0-0, Alanee Davidson-Chuck 0-0-0, Jaden Hamilton 3-2-10, Kyla Jamison 6-2-16. TEAM TOTALS: 14, 9-10: 44.

Three-point goals: West Branch 4 (Alazaus 3, Tuel), Salem 7 (Jamison 2, Hamilton 2, Johnson 2, Abbie Davidson).

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