MINERVA — Salem shot 15 percent from the field in the first half and dug itself a hole it could never climb out of while falling to an aggressive Minerva team 62-26 in an Eastern Buckeye Conference boys basketball game in the Lions’ gym here Friday night.

“We didn’t play real well and didn’t shoot real well,” said a disappointed Salem head coach Jeff Andres. “That sums it up, and they got us, for sure.”

“Finally we played the defense we are capable of playing,” said Minerva head coach Rich Hart, a former head coach at Salem.

With the loss, the Quakers fell to 1-2 overall and 0-2 in EBC action, while the Lions evened their overall record to 2-2 and their conference slate to 1-1.

Salem had no double figure scorers in the game as Deontay Steele led the Quakers with nine points.

“Being down 19-2 didn’t help anything,” said Andres of his team’s first-half scoring drought. “We couldn’t score.”

Minerva was paced by its returning All-Ohio point guard Rowen Hoffee who took game-scoring honors with 25 points, while teammate Owen Shick added 11 markers.

“He (Hoffee) became a 1,000-point scorer last week,” lauded Hart of his senior standout. “He runs the engine and keeps us all going and is just a solid, solid player.”

The aggressive Lions controlled the contest from the outset, jumping out to a 7-2 lead after one quarter and expanding it to 11 points (23-12) at halftime and 23 points (44-21) entering the final period.

“We’ve got some guys who stepped up,” praised Hart. “Tyson Fetty had been playing JV and we brought him up when we had three guys out. We had two out tonight and we got Isaak Morckel back and he’s just an energy kid, so that was a big help.”

The aggressive Lions forced 24 turnovers out of the Quakers and also out-rebounded Salem 27-12.

Minerva began a running clock when Hoffee banked in a long three-pointer, giving the Lions a 60-23 lead with 3:57 remaining in the game.

Seconds later, Hart emptied his bench and the Lions’ backups finished out the contest.

“Braydon Wood had like (seven) points and four or five assists and he’s just all over the place on the boards,” praised Hart. “They all played well and our bench played well.”

“We got a little momentum before halftime but we just didn’t respond in the third quarter very well,” observed Andres. “We were down 11 at halftime and then it (Minerva’s lead) went to 15 and then 18 and then you’re playing catch-up.”

Notes

¯ Minerva won the junior varsity game against Salem by a 47-32 final.

¯ Salem, which has opened the season with three straight road games, will return to the friendly confines of John A, Cabas Gymnasium when the Quakers host a new opponent, Southeast, in an independent tilt Saturday afternoon. Due to the pending snow forecast for Saturday, the Carrollton at Salem JV girls game will start at 11 a.m., with the varsity girls game to follow. The Salem vs. Southeast JV boys basketball game will tip off at 2 p.m. with the Quaker-Pirate varsity game to follow.

“There’s a storm coming in and the girls (JV and varsity) will play (first) and then we’ll play afterward (with the boys JV and then varsity),” said Andres.

¯Minerva travels to Garaway Tuesday night in an independent game.

“I know that’s a tough place to play, so we’ll have to bring that same intensity there,” said Hart of Garaway.

SA: 2-10-9-5–26

MI: 7-16-21-18–62

SALEM SCORING: Ty Manion 1-1-4, Deontay Steele 2-4-9, Jack Andres 2-0-4, Karsen Dangel 0-0-0, Max Zacharias 0-0-0, Ben Severe 1-2-5, Weston Mango 0-0-0, Cam Martin 0-0-0, Owen Davidson 0-0-0, Braydon Carrocce 0-0-0, Braydon Fennema 1-2-4. TEAM TOTALS: 7, 9-11: 26

MINERVA SCORING: Owen Shick 3-6-11, Rowen Hoffee 10-4-25, Reid Spall 0-4-4, Gabe Weldon 1-0-2, Tyson Fetty 2-2-6, Braydon Wood 3-1-7, Kellen Troyer 0-0-0, Ben Herstine 0-0-0, Isaak Morckel 2-3-7, Noah Morckel 0-0-0, Isiah Willison 0-0-0, Lane Tarbet 0-0-0, Wyatt Gonzalez 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 21, 15-23: 62

Three-point goals: Salem 3 (Ty Manion 1, Deontay Steele 1, Ben Severe 1); Minerva 5 (Owen Shick 2, Rowen Hoffee 2, Isiah Morckel 1).

Total fouls: Salem 17, Minerva 14. Fouled out: Jack Andres (S).