West Branch’s Kasen Weaver scores over Salem’s Jack Andres. (Photos by Lowell Spencer)

BELOIT — There is nothing like a rivalry game to get a team focused and back on track. The West Branch Warriors accomplished that in their 48-30 victory over the Salem Quakers Friday night on their home court.

The Warriors snapped a five-game losing streak and improved their record to 4-7 overall and 2-3 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference. It also extends the Warriors’ win streak over the Quakers to five games in the rivalry.

“I hope the kids feel better about themselves,” Warriors coach Scott Loudon said. “But twenty-four hours from now we are playing Louisville, so we don’t get to enjoy the win for very long. But I think it certainly helps us with our mental state, and they are resilient kids, but it is definitely nice to put another notch in the win column.”

With the loss, the Quakes fall to 4-8 and 1-4 in the EBC. The Quakers have dropped six straight games.

“A rivalry game, you definitely shouldn’t have to get the guys up for that. And I think we played hard,” Quakers coach Jeff Andres said. “Getting down early obviously hurt us. We are not a team built to be able to come back from a deficit. They played better than us tonight and we are struggling right now.”

With the Warriors’ 6-foot-7 post player Gavin Gregory out with a lower leg injury, it was up to senior Cooper Anderson and junior Zach Coffee to step in for them. And that is exactly what they did as Anderson grabbed 10 rebounds and scored 10 points while Coffee added four points, three rebounds, and blocked three shots.

“Cooper Anderson played well again, particularly defensively and on the boards, and Zach Coffee, who hadn’t been playing a lot for us prior to Gavin getting hurt, played really well,” Loudon said. I didn’t want to take him off the floor tonight. He rebounded well, and then his younger brother (Landon) went in the fourth quarter and came out with four points and three rebounds in limited play.”

“I don’t have the exact number of points that they got in the paint tonight, but a lot of their 48 points came in the paint,” Andres said. “The Coffee kid did a really good job, and the Anderson kid did a good job around the rim. They beat us up in the paint, there is no doubt about it.”

Camden Lane led the Warriors in scoring with 11 points, including a three. In addition to Anderson’s 10 points, Jeremiah Thomas also added 10 to help power the Warriors offensively.

But it was the Warriors’ Kasen Weaver that sparked them early in the contest as he hit a couple of early jumpers to stake them to an 8-0 advantage midway through the opening quarter. He added a three with 2 seconds remaining to provide them with a commanding 15-5 lead at the close of the first frame.

The Warriors stretched their lead out to 12 at 17-5 following a bucket by Lane starting the second quarter before the Quakers answered with a couple of baskets to make it 18-10. Coffee added his second basket of the night just before the second-period buzzer to provide the Warriors with an 11-point, 24-13 advantage at halftime.

However, the Quakers gallantly fought back with a 7-2 run to start the second half and cut the deficit to six points at 26-20 following a three by sophomore guard Ty Manion at the 5:58 mark of the period. But Lane answered with a three on the Warriors’ next possession to reverse the momentum and power the Warriors on a 10-3 run to close the stanza providing them with a 36-23 advantage.

“We played hard, and we had some opportunities,” Andres said. “Our shots just didn’t fall. We didn’t shoot well from the free-throw line. So, we can play much, much better than we did.”

The Warriors eventually built a game-high 21-point advantage in the fourth quarter following a basket by sophomore Landon Coffee with 4:33 remaining in the contest. The Quakers fought to the end though as they outscored the Warriors in the final four minutes of the contest 6-3 to reach the final 18-point margin.

“Hopefully we feel a little bit better about ourselves, and hopefully we can snowball that a little bit,” Loudon said.

Manion and Cletis Monroy each scored eight points in leading the Quakers on the scoreboard. Evan Jones grabbed 8 rebounds to pace them on the boards.

“We have been reeling a bit in terms of health with guys that have been sick, and we are starting to get those guys back,” Andres said. “We are getting close to having our full roster and getting guys back and healthy.”

On Tuesday, the Quakers will return to action when they travel to Poland in a non-conference battle. The Warriors will be back on the court again Saturday night when they travel to Louisville, also in a non-conference tilt.

Game notes

¯ West Branch was celebrating its Hall of Fame Night before the contest so they chose not to adjust their schedule for the Ohio State football game. The gym had emptied within 15 minutes following the contest

¯ With Gavin Gregory having a lower leg injury, the Warriors are not rushing him back until he is fully healthy. They hope to have him back at 100% by tournament time

¯ The Quakers’ last win in the series was a 56-39 victory at Salem on Jan. 28, 2022

SA: 5-8-10- 7–30

WB: 15-9-12-12–48

SALEM SCORING: Ty Manion 3, 0-2, 8, Deontray Steele 2, 1-2, 6, Colin Riesen 0, 2-4, 2, Cletis Monroy 3, 1-2, 8, Evan Jones 2, 0-0, 4, Jack Andres 1, 0-0, 2. TEAM TOTALS: 11, 4-10: 30.

WEST BRANCH SCORING: Joey Jackson 0, 0-0, 0, Jeremiah Thomas 1, 8-10, 10, Cooper Anderson 4, 2-4, 10, Kasen Weaver 4, 0-0, 9, Camden Lane 5, 0-0, 11, Zach Coffee 2, 0-2, 4, Landon Coffee 2, 0-0, 4. TEAM TOTALS: 18, 10-16: 48.

Three-point goals: Salem 4 (Manion 2, Steele 1, Monroy 1), West Branch 2 (Weaver 1, Lane 1).