Special to the Journal/Gary Leininger Salem’s Lance Bailey goes to the basket against West Branch defenders Riley Hendershott (1), Jeremiah Thomas (3) and Gavin Gregory (22).

BELOIT — West Branch built a 10-point lead in the first quarter with six players scoring as the Warriors beat Salem, 59-37, Friday.

The Warriors have won 10 of their last 11 games to improve to 16-3 overall and won the Eastern Buckeye Conference title outright with a 9-1 mark, three games ahead of Alliance and Carrollton.

Salem drops to 5-13 and finished 0-10 in the EBC.

West Branch showed its balance as Jeremiah Thomas totaled 13 points and five assists, Joey Jackson 12 points, Jaxon Robb 10 points and 10 rebounds, Cooper Anderson eight points, 12 rebounds and three assists, Gavin Gregory eight points and Camden Lane seven points and three assists.

Evan Jones topped Salem with 12 points. Trent Fink scored eight.

West Branch led 6-2 early and never looked back. The Warriors led 17-7 through one quarter and went on a 9-0 run to pull ahead 28-11. The closes Salem got after that was nine points, the last time at 30-21 early in the third quarter. The Warriors were off and running for a 48-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

West Branch also won the junior varsity game, 52-28, behind Kasen Weaver’s 17 points and Caden West’s 13. Nate Yakubek and Ty Manion each scored seven points for the Quakers.

Salem will play at Beaver Local on Tuesday, while West Branch goes to two-win Girard on Friday.

S: 7-12- 9- 9–37

WB: 17-11-20-11–59

SALEM SCORING: Trent Fink 2-2-8, Colin Riesen 1-0-2, Lance Bailey 2-0-4, Cam Sampson 1-1-4, Evan Jones 6-0-12, Ross Davidson 1-0-2, Deontay Steele 2-0-5, Nate Yakubek 0-0-0, Anthony Colian 0-0-0, Andrew Beck 0-0-0, Derek Oesch 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 15, 3-6: 37.

WEST BRANCH SCORING: Riley Hendershott 0-0-0,Cooper Anderson 4-0-8, Gavin Gregory 4-0-8, Camden Lane 1-5-7, Joey Jackson 5-0-12, Jeremiah Thomas 5-3-13, Jaxon Robb 5-0-10, Zach Coffee 0-1-1, Kasen Weaver 0-0-0, Zack Pinkerton 0-0-0, Walker Poorbaugh 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 24, 9-15: 59.

Three-point goals: Salem 4 (Fink 2, Sampson, Steele), West Branch 2 (Jackson 2).