The Salem High basketball team finished up the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule with a 6-1 record. That included a home-and-home sweep of Northside and a win at Patrick Henry, so coach Kevin Garst has to be pleased.
“With our tough early season schedule I’m real happy to be 6-1,” said Garst. “We’ve learned a lot about ourselves and have some time off during the break where we can work on some things.”
Salem was scheduled to host William Byrd on Tuesday of this week but results were too late for early holiday deadlines. After winning their first five games of the season the Spartans lost at home to Cave Spring, 63-52, on December 19. They bounced back to win at Northside the following Monday, December 23, to sweep the season series from the Vikings.
Salem trailed 18-9 after one period at Northside but held the Vikings to three second quarter points to take a 24-21 halftime lead. They outscored Northside 41-17 in the second half to win going away, 65-38.
The Spartans scored 24 points off turnovers to just 10 for Northside, a big turnabout from recent seasons. Salem outrebounded the Vikings, 41-33, and had 40 “points in the paint” to just 16 for the home team. Salem shot 46 percent from the floor and held Northside to 23 percent.
“Our defense was much better,” said Garst. “We struggled on defense against Cave Spring.”
Salem had four players in double-figures at Northside, led by Jaydius Hamm with 14. Cam Boles and Tanner Overstreet had a dozen each and Braylon Smith had 11. Overstreet had 11 rebounds and Elijah Paddyfote had five assists and four steals.
The Spartans will open the New Year with a River Ridge District game at Blacksburg on January 5th.
