By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– The Salem Academy Girls Basketball team came out showing their athleticism in their season and home opener against St. Paul Thursday night.
Offensively, defensively, they were flying in their 68-13 win over the Buckaroos. They got Aundra Rose, St. Paul’s big post player, into foul trouble early with three fouls in the first half as the Crusaders set the tone from the start.
“Not letting up, especially going into halftime. Once we got up, keep the energy up, “said Salem Academy’s Jordyn Copeland. ‘It feels good as a first good win. We have a deep bench, we have subs and it doesn’t really change our bench and we keep it up. Just keeping the ball under control, especially when we’re pressed or getting pressed.”
The Salem Academy press created headaches for the young St. Paul squad, who returns three seniors in Rose, Josey Edwards and Payton Whitlock to lead a Bucks squad with nine underclassmen.
It’s a good starting point for St. Paul as they head to play North Clackamas Christian on Friday.
“It showed us where exactly we need to work on, we are very young in the guard position especially. Their press caught us off guard a little bit with our ball handlers,” said St. Paul Head Coach Julie Melcher. “But it was good, we know what we to work on and where we’re at. Salem Academy is a well-oiled, matured, team.
“In practice, we need to turn up the heat on each other and take care of the ball. We had a lot of turnovers, we missed a lot of chipped lay-ins, so i think first game nerves were a factor.”
Clara Persons led the Crusaders with 16 points, Celia James and Copeland each scored in double figures with 15 and 13 points respectively. Chase Sullivan led the game with eight of the Crusaders 25 steals in the game. Salem Academy will host Blanchet Catholic on Tuesday .
Edwards and Rose led the Buckaroos with four points each. Amelia Cavazos and Sienna Meza each had a team-high six rebounds each for St. Paul.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
