METRO ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Salem sails past Poland for sixth
Salem had four players in double figures, led by Alyson Cotter with 19 points.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SALEM -- You'll have to forgive the Salem High girls basketball team if it isn't in the mood to share. The Quakers are excited about the holidays, it's just that their idea of giving doesn't include sharing another Metro Athletic Conference championship with Poland.
And after what Salem did to the Bulldogs Saturday night, it looks like they don't have too much to worry about.
The Quakers outscored Poland 20-6 in the opening quarter and poured it on in the second half to hand the Bulldogs a lopsided 71-32 loss. It was Salem's biggest win over Poland since a 70-24 victory in the 1984-85 season.
"I was very pleased with our intensity and focus," said Salem (6-1, 2-0 MAC) coach Steve Stewart. "We played well defensively and stayed with the game plan. We were hitting our shots and screening real well.
"We told the girls that this is our home floor and we need to control what happens here," he continued. "We shared the league title with Poland last year, so we were excited to play them. We stepped up to the challenge."
Unstoppable attack
Other than a three-minute stretch in the second quarter, the young and inexperienced Bulldogs didn't provide much of a challenge. The Quakers' offensive attack was unstoppable, as four starters scored in double figures. Alyson Cotter, who led Salem with 19 points, had nine points in the first period. Her 3-pointer at the 2:42 mark of the first put the Quakers up 13-2.
After falling behind 20-6 in the first quarter, the Bulldogs made a run at the start of the second quarter, closing to 20-15 on a pair of Steffi Graf free throws. But Poland was outscored 14-7 in the final 5:30 of the half and faced a 34-22 deficit at the intermission. The difference was too much to overcome.
"Salem is much better than us right now in every phase of the game," said Poland (3-2, 1-1 MAC) coach Jamie Dunn. "They put some distance between us in the first half ... our young kids just didn't execute and Salem just took us out of what we do. That's what great teams do. I just hope we learn from this and get better for the rest of the MAC schedule."
Good offense, defense
While Salem's offense was impressive, its defense was even more dominating. The Quakers held Poland to just six points in the first quarter, three in the third stanza and seven in the fourth quarter. The Quakers did most of their damage defensively with steals and pressure. Salem forced 23 turnovers and in the first quarter alone, Salem had six steals.
The victory was extra special for Katherine McGarry, who faced Poland for the first time since transferring after two seasons with the Bulldogs. The junior scored seven points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds against her former team.
"I was excited for this game because it was against my old team, but a little nervous," said McGarry. "Coming to Salem was a great opportunity and it's a great place to be."
Renee Farina added 13 points for Salem, Lauren Teal added 12 and Lizzie Jesko scored 11.
Poland was led by Graf's 16 points. Nicole Costello added seven.