By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– For the first time since the 2022-2023 season, the West Salem Boys Basketball team has won a conference title. Doing so Tuesday night against South Salem, taking down the Saxons 75-62 to achieve the feat.
The Titans came out blazing. Behind a balanced attack, they led the Saxons 28-11 after the first quarter and led 34-12 early in the second to open the Central Valley Conference Championship Game. The hot start was good, but it was crucial to set the tone before South Salem did know how good of a team they were. Especially coming off the heels of their last meeting when the Saxons rallied from 17 points down to win the game 80-77 on February 6.
“We were all in the same mindset. We all knew that we had to play defense first and transition coming out of it and we executed that well in the first quarter,” said West Salem’s Evan Wusttig.
The gym was packed. It was loud, it was cramped. It felt like a League Championship Game. It felt like what’s going to be like next week for these two teams, and the same here in hopefully two weeks if they reach the Chiles Center for the double-elimination portion of the 6A bracket.
And right on cue almost it felt like, South Salem came around starting in the second quarter. They found their groove, their rhythm, on both sides of the ball. They cut the deficit to 13 going into the second half, trailing the Titans 44-31 and they carried that momentum into the second half. Of note, over the final three quarters, after West Salem’s strong first quarter, the margin of the game was four points. West Salem edged South Salem 51-47 over that span to show how important that start was for them in this game.
“We’ve had a lot of games like that before and came back before, so we knew that if we all stick together, we always play better. We never give up and that’s how we comeback,” said South Salem’s Brayden Fleener. “This was a good learning experience. We’re going to play tough teams like that, I think it’s good that we went down and we battled back and that teaches us a lot of things and I think it’s good for the team. If we want to make it far in the playoffs, we have to stick together.
“I think we had that for a little bit there, but I think we need to stick together through it all.”
West Salem were prepared for the runs and the adjustments. South Salem cut the deficit to ten for a brief moment in the third quarter before the Titans locked in once more to close out the game. It wasn’t a flawless performance from either side, but with the postseason looming, it was an encouraging sign of what both teams could become.
“We knew that they were going to go on a run, we didn’t play perfectly but we played our ass off and played hard the whole time, which got us that lead. So many guys stepped up in different ways. It was a lot of fun. We have a group that’s playing really well together right now. They play hard for each other and they’re talented. We have a good combination. We want to be peaking and I think we’re peaking at the right time to where we’re playing our best basketball of the year right now,” said West Salem Head Coach Dean Sanderson.
Interestingly for Sanderson, who’s had Head Coach stops at McKay and Central before coming to West Salem, this is the first time that he’s led a team to a Conference Title. A special moment for sure for the long-time Salem-area Head Coach.
“It’s really emotional for me because League Champions don’t define how hard you work. But when it all comes together like that, it was really, really special. And the amount of times we haven’t gotten it with high-character kids that I loved, makes this one really special,” said Sanderson.
Joanh Munns led the Titans with 18 points with Diggs Sladek contributing another 17 points. West Salem will be at Sprague on Friday. Tko Westbrook scored 18 points to lead the Saxons, who will be at home to host McNary on Friday.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
