Warriors escape Salem with win
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SALEM -- For those who love great defensive basketball, Salem's John A. Cabas Gymnasium was the place to be Wednesday night as arch-rivals Salem and West Branch's girls basketball teams put on a scratch-and-claw defensive clinic.
When it was over, it was the Warriors who left Salem with an exhausting 34-24 triumph as they remained unbeaten at 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference.
"I'm really proud, we've been playing that way (great defense) all season," said West Branch head coach Walt DeShields. "From what we lost (in terms of players) from last season, I'm really proud of these girls the way they're really working hard on defense and working together."
"It (defense) is always something we work on in practice," said West Branch defensive standout Ellie Tucker, who did a masterful job fronting the multi-talented Reese Davidson-Chuck of Salem, who was held to six points on the evening. "It's something that we pride ourselves in as a team. In the rival game, we're always talking about defense. Keep them under 10 every quarter and try our best to keep their best player from scoring and I think we were able to get that done tonight."
With the setback, Salem is now 2-3 overall and 1-3 in EBC play.
"I was very proud of our defensive effort tonight," said Salem head coach Matt Mowery. "The girls scrapped and clawed, and in the West Branch-Salem rivalry, no matter what sport we're playing in (it's always competitive). The game was a lot closer than the score indicates because of the little foul extravaganza at the end."
Need two examples of impressive defense played by both the Warriors and Quakers in the game? Neither team had a player reach double figures and both squads shot under 20 percent from the field. There were no such things as easy baskets in this game.
"We just had trouble scoring the basketball," said Mowery. "It was a game of momentum swings a little bit and we just couldn't score, that's what it came down to. We had some opportunities in the lane and didn't finish. The ball just wouldn't fall for us."
The final 10-point margin of victory for West Branch is somewhat deceiving as the game was played within two-to-five points most of the evening.
Leading West Branch in scoring was senior guard Audrey Eaton with eight points, including six points in the deciding fourth quarter when the Warriors broke away from a four-point (23-19) lead after three periods to outscore the Quakers 11-5 after Salem was forced to foul late in the game, creating the 10-point margin.
"She (Eaton) is a talented player and she's going to make plays for us," said DeShields. "She struggled early and I just kept telling her, keep shooting, you'll make plays for us, you're a great player, and she just had to get through those misses that she normally makes. Credit to her because she kept playing and made a couple big plays there at the end."
Tallie Muniz added seven points for West Branch, while guard Alli Kanagy finished with five markers, including a three-pointer.
"We didn't have our best shooting night but that's OK because they're going to continue to play defense," observed DeShields. "The nicest thing is even if they miss a shot or make a mistake and turn it over, they're back playing defense and that's going to carry you in big games on the road."
Abby Knickerbocker led Salem with seven points, while Reese Davidson-Chuck and Maddy Andres finished with six points each.
West Branch forged a 7-4 lead after one quarter. Salem, which never led in the first half, pulled within two points (9-7) of the Warriors, following a steal and layup by standout Reese Davidson-Chuck with 2:26 left before half.
But West Branch outscored the Quakers 5-2 in the remaining time and took as much as a seven point (14-7) lead on the Quakers when Kanagy hit a three-ball with 35 seconds before the break.The Quakers narrowed their deficit to five points (14-9) when Rylee Davidson-Chuck hit a fielder with 17 seconds showing. The score remained that way at halftime.
Salem took its first lead of the game when Andres hit two free throws, giving the Quakers a 17-16 lead at the 4:27 mark of the third quarter. But the Warriors responded by outscoring the Quakers 7-2 to forge a 23-19 advantage after three.
Salem drew within two points (23-21) of West Branch with six minutes left, but the Warriors were successful in forcing several Salem turnovers (the Quakers had 19 on the night to the Warriors' 13) in the closing minutes which enabled the visitors to outscore Salem 11-3 during the remaining time to secure the win.
"I really think we just got it done and made more plays the last couple minutes of the game," observed DeShields.
"We didn't rebound the ball real well, especially in the first half," said Mowery. "We cleaned that up in the second half, but again, we had our opportunities but against a team like West Branch you've got to make fewer mistakes than we did tonight."
"It's never easy to play at Salem," said DeShields, who is one of the all-time greats in Salem basketball history. "No matter what team you have coming in here, it's a backyard rivalry and they (the Quakers) played hard and we played hard."
Notes
¯ West Branch also claimed the junior varsity win over the Quakers by a 25-14 final.
¯The Quakers return to action Saturday afternoon in an independent game at Canton Central Catholic.
¯West Branch is idle until next Wednesday night when the Warriors travel to Austintown Fitch to play the Falcons.
WB: 7-7-9-11--34
SA: 4-5-10-5--24
WEST BRANCH SCORING: Ellie Tucker 1-4, Zoey Carreon 0-0-0, Daniela Benitez 0-0-0, Allie Kanagy 1-2-5, Mati Hawk 0-0-0, Presley Egli 1-0-2, Carter Shepherd 0-1-1, Sammi Beatty 1-0-3, Tallie Muniz 3-1-7, Hallie Vie Burton 1-2-4, Audrey Eaton 1-5-8. TEAM TOTALS: 9, 13-20: 34
SALEM SCORING: Karlie Sampson 0-0-0, Garyn Rohm 0-0-0, Peyton Colbert 0-0-0, Abby Knickerbocker 2-3-7, Maddy Andres 2-2-6, Rylee Davidson-Chuck 2-0-4, Muirin Lesko 0-0-0, Emilee Lewis 0-1-1, Reese Davidson-Chuck 3-0-6. TEAM TOTALS: 9, 6-12: 24
Three-point goals: West Branch 3 (Audrey Eaton 1, Sammi Beatty 1, Alli Kanagy 1).
Total fouls: West Branch 11, Salem 21. Fouled out: none.