CRESWELL, Ore.– It wasn’t the ending that Salem Academy was hoping for, but man it was a darn good game between them and Creswell on Saturday.
Every time that the Crusaders seemed to be getting a handle on the game, whether they were up nine like in the first half, or seven in the third quarter, the Bulldogs had an answer to get back into the game each time. And it was a simple solution.
Return the favor of being the aggressor back and see if the Crusaders could respond. Salem Academy did at times, they did reset and respond at times, but it wasn’t enough to get over the hump and finish the game to get to Coos Bay.
But nonetheless, it made for entertaining basketball coming down the stretch with a trip to Coos Bay on the line.
“They did similarly what we experienced against Blanchet. We like to get defenses on their heels with our aggression offensively, but they put pressure on us and had us on our heels offensively. We were making bad passes out of it and it makes us frantic instead of being aggressive and getting to the rim, and that’s what we needed to do,” said Salem Academy Head Coach Jeff Dunn.
“As a fan, it was a great basketball game. What stings was starting to have control three different times in that game and kudos to (Creswell) they battled back. They threw some pressure at us and we didn’t handle it well and they hung around.”
With just seven seconds remaining, the Crusaders had one final chance to force overtime — or win it outright if the shot was there.
They pushed the ball up the court, Salem Academy was faced a suffocating Bulldog defense as Noah Burns crossed mid-court and fought towards the rim. Trapped by a double team near the free-throw line, Burns managed to create just enough space to get a shot off at the buzzer. The attempt hit the back of the rim as time expired,closing out a tough 57–55 road loss for the Crusaders.
With only two seniors on the team and five sophomore’s that saw significant minutes this season, expectations are high for Salem Academy to get back to this point. And perhaps return to Coos Bay by the end of the season.
“Our expectation was to get all the way to Coos Bay, so it definitely stings. I feel like we’re a Top 8 team for sure. I hate the excuse that we’re young, but the reality was that we had five sophomore’s playing a lot of minutes,” “Great experience, I just wanted the full experience. But yes, we’re all going to come back even more hungry next year.”
Burns finished with 20 points and Boone Dunn contributed another 18 points in the win. Judson Moody led the Crusaders with 11 rebounds. Luke Bailey recorded a 11 point, 12 rebound double-double for Creswell with Ace Arnold leading the Bulldogs with 19 points. The Bulldogs will face Cascade Christian on Thursday, a 6:30pm game at North Bend High School.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
