By Jeremy McDonald
jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– The Salem Academy Girls Basketball team will return a nice solid core to their program this year as they hope to return to the 2A Postseason following a one-year hiatus this past season.
Celia James, Chase Sullivan, Karalee Fridley, Eleanor Pass and Sophia Pass are some of the athletes returning. Clara Persons is a new addition to the program coming in from Regis, and some new faces like Jordyn Copeland help fill out a Crusader Varsity program entering this season. Running the court will be the name of the game, their emphasis this year, similar to how it was for them last season.
“We’re definitely focused on running the court and seeing what we can do to push the ball ahead. Now that we have Clara, she’s a speed demon, we’ll have extra speed,” laughs Sullivan. “We definitely need to memorize our plays and learn team chemistry together and work on our flow on the court, especially with new plays and new teammates and stuff like that.”
Sullivan points towards their big trip to Henderson, Nevada for the Tarkanian Classic between December18-21 as a big opportunity for the squad to work on sharpening up the team chemistry too prior to the annual Crusader Classic after New Year’s and the bulk of their Tri-River Conference schedule early in January. But with about four weeks until then, the Crusaders will look to build some momentum for both of those tournaments going into the New Year as they open up the season, December 5, at home against St. Paul.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
