The Salem High girls were getting ready to play Mecklenburg County in the Region 4D south sub-region tournament Wednesday as the paper went to press. A spot in the Class 4 state championship tournament was on the line.
Salem opened the sub-region with a 69-27 pounding of Jefferson Forest at Salem High Monday while Mecklenburg defeated E.C. Glass, 65-55, to improve to 16-5 on the season. The Spartans are 22-1 and haven’t lost since playing in a Christmas Tournament in Tennessee over the holiday break.
The winner of Wednesday’s game earns a spot in the state championship and will play the north sub-region winner on Friday. The north top seed is Charlottesville, who improved to 21-2 Monday with an 80-30 win over Sherando. The Black Knights were scheduled to host north number two seed Handley on Wednesday.
If Salem won Wednesday the region championship is at Salem High Friday. The winner will get a home game in the state quarterfinal while Friday’s winner will make the state tournament but open on the road.
The Spartans were hitting on all cylinders Monday against Jefferson Forest. They jumped out to a 22-8 lead after the first quarter and led by 21, 35-14, at the half. Salem then blew it wide open, outscoring the Cavaliers 24-8 in the third quarter before coach Scott Jester cleared the bench.
“Good start to our postseason,” said Jester. “The players did a good job of following the scouting report and we were dialed in defensively all night.”
Bailey Rider led Salem with 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Emme Custer had 16 points and seven boards, Gabby Crawley had 13 points and five steals and Kourtney Goens had a dozen points and five rebounds.
