By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– The fourth quarter, the last two nights have been the stuff of nightmares for the Amity Boys Basketball team. But they managed to come out victorious to get to the Crusader Classic Green Bracket Saturday night against former and future PacWest Conference opponent Salem Academy.
For the first three quarters, it was the making of the old days of the PacWest Conference where these two teams battled it out. The Warriors led 25-18 at halftime, and the Crusaders pulled ahead briefly in the third quarter only to see Amity pull back ahead, going into the fourth quarter 43-40.
For the Salem Boys, their seven-win start to the season is reminiscent of season’s past and a step forward this winter from last year’s rebuilding year. They have the aspirations to get back to Elite 8 and Pendleton one last time before heading back up to 3A, and that push for Coos Bay. The Crusader Classic provides that State feel with games in three-day blocks similar to what Salem Academy and Amity may see come March.
“Overall, this tournament, we learned a lot. We bonded a lot as a team. Me, myself, I learned a lot about my teammates. Just talking. Playing three days in a row, you just get another chance the next day and work on things that we need to work on. There’s no breaks, and we learned a lot,” said Salem Academy’s Boone Dunn. “There’s a lot to learn from it. Just taking the things that we learned and putting them into play during league. We got a good game up against Santiam coming up next after this. Hopefully, this helps prepare us well. Come out, grind in league, and our goal is to make it to Pendleton.”
With the Crusaders breathing down their necks and wanting to put the fourth quarter Amity Curse behind them, the Warriors stepped up their game and started rolling. A 21-9 fourth quarter helped turn that three point lead that Amity had into the 64-49 victory. Clinching, for the second time-ever, and first since the 2019-2020 season, the Warriors are bringing home a Crusader Classic Title.
They encompassed that first quarter energy once more in that final frame. They came together as one, trusting each other as they began to pull away and shut the door on the tournament host for the win.
“We had to find the energy that we had in the first quarter. We had to bring it together as a team. They had a good run. They had an 8-0 run on us, but we had to come back with energy from the first quarter and trust each other,” said Amity’s Austin Carrasco. “We ran into foul trouble, but we had to trust each other. We knew what we needed to do, we did it, and we got out of here with a ‘W’.
“It’s been close to the last couple of nights. We’ve been preparing ourselves that it’s going to be like this. In practice, having situational stuff like this and going through this in practice, preparing ourselves for this. Knowing that we’re going to need to bring energy and defense, that’s what is going to win it for us.”
Carrasco and Con Coelho each led the Warriors with 14, Amity will host Sheridan on Tuesday to resume PacWest Conference play. Dunn led the Crusaders with 23 points as Salem Academy host Santiam on Wednesday in Tri-River Conference play.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
