Salem's Lance Bailey (12) tries to block a shot by Struthers' Rocco Garchar during sectional tournament play Tuesday. (Salem News/Neel Madhavan)

STRUTHERS — Fired-up Salem gave a 15-win Struthers team all it could handle before dropping a 64-60 decision to the Wildcats in a Division II sectional boys’ basketball game at the Struthers Fieldhouse Tuesday evening.

“That’s a really good basketball team,” said Struthers head coach Michael Wernicki of the Quakers. “We did our homework and I wasn’t happy about playing them. They jumped on us (in the draw) and rightfully so. They had already beaten four teams in our league in Girard, South Range, Hubbard and Niles. They had a familiarity with our league and the level of our league.”

“I think we got it (the lead) to four, maybe five in the first half and then they (the Wildcats) hit a shot and cut it back to two or whatever and we just couldn’t quite pull away and that’s what they did early in the third quarter,” said Salem head coach Jeff Andres.

Salem (10-13) showed great offensive balance as four players ended up in double digits, led by guard Cam Sampson, who led the way with a game-high 22 points, including four of the Quakers’ eight triples in the contest. Teammate Ross Davidson finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Caden Swiger and Lance Bailey ended with 10 points each.

Struthers, which started five seniors, was led by 6-7 standout Nick Delgratta with 21 points and a whopping 18 rebounds, while Chance Laczko added 18 markers and Rocco Garchar finished with 11.

“When he (Delgratta) gets going, he gets going,” praised Wernicki of the active big man. “He’s over 500 and some points on the year. What you saw tonight is what he gives us every night. He has a lot of energy and a lot of length and he’s hard to guard. When you’re not familiar with him, he’s hard to prepare for.”

“Delgratta is a good player and gave us some trouble,” lauded Andres. “Good luck to them moving forward, they’ve got a lot of seniors on that team too.”

A key juncture in the contest occurred at the outset of the second half. After the two teams traded leads seven times in the first half, with Struthers taking a two point (36-34) at intermission, the Wildcats came out on fire to start the third quarter. Struthers went on a 10-0 run to start the frame and had the Quakers in catch-up mode.

“They were up two at the half and went on that 10-0 run and we were kind of fighting from behind from that point on,” observed Andres. That (10-0 run) was huge.”

“I think in the second half we went zone and that is what helped us,” observed the Struthers head coach. “They (the Quakers) are such a good downhill team with their drives which sets up so many good shooters on the perimeter, and we didn’t do as good a job as I had hoped in the first half. Because we were so spread out, they kept getting offensive rebounds and extending possessions. The zone for us kind of limited their drives and helped us rebound better and when you’re rebounding you get better offensive possessions.”

In a high-scoring, fast-paced first half, Salem, which started four juniors and one senior to five seniors for the Wildcats, took a 17-15 lead after one, led by Sampson who had 15 points in the first half.

Salem took as much as a four-point (27-23) advantage when Davidson, who also had 10 points in the first half, canned two free throws with 5:30 showing before the break. Struthers came back to tie things at 34-34 when Garchar buried a three-pointer with 52 seconds left before the break. After Salem missed a three-point attempt, Struthers’ Delrgatta gave the Wildcats a 36-34 lead at halftime when he connected on two three throws with 2.7 seconds showing. Delgratta led Struthers in the first half with 12 pointers.

“We were feeling pretty good, we were playing a lot of the first half with a lead and they (the Wildcats) kept clawing back, getting too many easy points,” said Andres.

The Wildcats raced out to a 46-34 lead to open the third quarter as Salem went over five-and-a-half minutes without scoring before Caden Swiger buried a three-ball with 2:18 left in the period, pulling the Quakers back within nine at 46-37. Salem carved the deficit to six 49-43 after three.

The Quakers, who refused to go away, got within three points (51-48) of Struthers following a deep corner three-pointer by Sampson with 5:33 left in the game. But that was as close as Salem could get as Struthers outscored the visitors 13-12 the rest of the way to advance with the four-point win.

“When you can score the ball which we can, you’re never out of it,” said Andres. “That’s what I told them afterward, I was proud of the way they kept clawing, kept fighting and made it interesting and cut it to four there at the end. But credit to Struthers, their kids can shoot it as well.”

“I am very, very proud of my kids because that’s a really good basketball team we beat,” said Wernicki. “That team is well coached and this was a hard game. I think us playing at home was probably a factor. This is a tremendous place to play and we had a nice crowd and it was an all-around great effort. Everybody that played tonight contributed and I’m just really proud of my group.”

The Quakers went with a youth movement this season and return four of five starters next winter.

“We talked about that — taking this feeling and building on it — making it a hungry type of thing, and I think we have some kids that will put in some time, take some pride in their game,” stated Andres in looking ahead to next season. “We feel pretty good with some guys coming back, and in 30 days here we’ll get back to work.”

Meanwhile, Struthers (15-8) and the 11th seed in the tournament, advances to a Friday night sectional championship match-up against the sixth-seeded Gilmour Academy Lancers at 7 p.m. in Gates Mills. Gilmour advanced Tuesday with a 67-30 win over the Field Falcons.

SALEM: 17-17-09-17–60

STRUTHERS: 15-21-13-15–64

SALEM SCORING: Ross Davidson 5-4-14, Trent Fink 0-2-2, Caden Swiger 4-0-10, Colin Riesen 0-0-0, DJ Kozar 0-0-0, Lance Bailey 4-0-10, Camden Sampson 5-4-22, Evan Jones 0-2-2. TEAM TOTALS: 20, 8-10: 60

STRUTHERS SCORING: Nick Delgratta 6-9-21, Grady Moore 0-0-0, Chance Laczko 6-6-18, Tyler Blasco 1-0-2, Nico Farina 0-0-0, Chaz Ekoniak 0-0-0, Alec Grzyb 1-0-2, Austin McCullough 2-0-6, Jondel Estrada 0-0-0, Rocco Garchar 4-0-11, Brady Clyde 2-0-4. TEAM TOTALS: 22, 15-21: 64

Three-point goals: Salem 8 (Cam Sampson 4, Caden Swiger 2, Lance Bailey 2). Struthers 5 (Rocco Garchar 3, Austin McCullough 2).

Total fouls: Salem 17, Struthers 12.

Fouled out: Ross Davidson.