Monday night, the Spartans made the short trip out Peters Creek Road to visit defending Class 3 state champion Northside. In a game that was reasonably well-played and intense for early December, the Vikings prevailed, 72-66. The first two quarters were evenly (and quickly) played, with Salem holding a slim lead for most of the action before a strong close to the second quarter gave the Vikings a two point lead at the half. The third quarter saw a lot of frenetic action and a lot of fouls; I know Northside was in the bonus before the end of the quarter, and Salem was close to being in the bonus. The Vikes opened up a nine point lead early in the fourth quarter, but Salem staged a nice comeback to knot the score at 64 with a few minutes left to play. From there, Northside would score eight of the game's final ten points to take the six-point victory. Salem had an excellent look at a three to potentially pull even at 69 in the final minute, but the shot wouldn't fall. Despite a large number of total fouls called and a lot of free throw attempts, it was a pretty enjoyable contest. There wasn't a big crowd there, but there was a good contingent of Northside students, and the atmosphere was a bit reminiscent of the Salem-Northside clashes of decades past.
Salem, now 1-1, got strong efforts from Ethan English and Alex Blanchard, who scored nineteen and seventeen points, respectively. Blankenship (don't know his first name) added eleven, and also played pretty well, for the most part; everyone else was somewhat spotty. Salem lost this game on second-chance points and fifty-fifty balls, as the Vikings absolutely dominated those categories. The Spartans have a lot of wings and guards, but no one who really looked like a true post player. As the season develops, someone will need to be willing to do the dirty work in clearing out on the defensive boards, and coming up with hotly-contested loose balls. Basically, a little more toughness than was shown Monday night will be called for. The other big problem was free throw shooting. I don't know what their percentage was, but the Spartans really hurt themselves at the line. So there is definite room for improvement there.
On the plus side, English is going to be difficult for any team to stop, and Blanchard is good enough that opponents won't be able to just concentrate on stopping English. Blankenship is a capable scorer, as well. The Spartans moved the ball well on offense most of the night, and there were far fewer outlandish shots and wild drives to the basket than I remember seeing in the few games I saw Salem play last season. This season has just begun, so Salem will have plenty of time to find some other contributors, and work on the issues mentioned above.
Salem, now 1-1, got strong efforts from Ethan English and Alex Blanchard, who scored nineteen and seventeen points, respectively. Blankenship (don't know his first name) added eleven, and also played pretty well, for the most part; everyone else was somewhat spotty. Salem lost this game on second-chance points and fifty-fifty balls, as the Vikings absolutely dominated those categories. The Spartans have a lot of wings and guards, but no one who really looked like a true post player. As the season develops, someone will need to be willing to do the dirty work in clearing out on the defensive boards, and coming up with hotly-contested loose balls. Basically, a little more toughness than was shown Monday night will be called for. The other big problem was free throw shooting. I don't know what their percentage was, but the Spartans really hurt themselves at the line. So there is definite room for improvement there.
On the plus side, English is going to be difficult for any team to stop, and Blanchard is good enough that opponents won't be able to just concentrate on stopping English. Blankenship is a capable scorer, as well. The Spartans moved the ball well on offense most of the night, and there were far fewer outlandish shots and wild drives to the basket than I remember seeing in the few games I saw Salem play last season. This season has just begun, so Salem will have plenty of time to find some other contributors, and work on the issues mentioned above.