HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL Salem holds off Cards

Sarah Hamilton and Katherine McGarry helped the Quakers remain unbeaten.
SALEM -- In a defense-dominated contest that suddenly turned high-scoring in the fourth quarter, Salem High made key free throws inside the final 1 minute, 36 seconds from Sarah Hamilton and Kelly Roelen, to defeat Canfield 43-40 in a Metro Athletic Conference girls basketball game on Thursday night.
Hamilton, along with Katherine McGarry, led the Quakers with 12 points each and six rebounds apiece.
This was a physical contest that saw only two ties, 7-7 in the first quarter and 20-20 in the third quarter, and only two lead changes.
Salem (6-0, 2-0 MAC) had a seven-point lead in the second quarter and led by nine points, 36-27, with 4:48 remaining in the game, but Canfield used a tenacious pressing defense to keep coming back.
Cardinals rally
With 3:26 remaining in the game a field goal by 6-foot-2 freshman Kate Popovec brought the Cardinals' deficit to four points, 36-32, and when Kanwaldeep Kaur scored with 40 seconds to go, Canfield (4-3, 1-1) drew to 41-38.
With 13 seconds remaining, 5-7 freshman Kelly Roelen, who came off the Salem bench to score seven points, hit a pair of free throws for a 43-38 lead, then Danielle Pavlansky scored with two seconds to go for the final score of the game.
Hamilton and McGarry, veterans of last season's Salem team that advanced to the Division II state semifinals, had key baskets in the second and third quarters with both of them setting up the other for those scoring opportunities.
"Mac and I have real good chemistry and it worked well for us tonight," said Hamilton.
Added McGarry: "We were only up by two points [30-28] in the second half, so we had to come out and dictate the offense and block out better on the boards."
Coach's take
Steve Stewart, the Salem coach, wasn't surprised by the physical nature of the game.
"Both teams played extremely hard on the floor which is typical of a Canfield and Salem matchup.
"Nothing came easy for either one of us tonight, but down the stretch we executed some good plays," added Stewart, "and we had people come off the bench like Roelen, Laci Meals and Leah Perry that really came through big time for us."
Canfield was 16-of-50 from the floor and was out-rebounded, 31-26.
The Cardinals had balanced scoring, with Popovec leading the way with eight points. Brianna Halfhill and Melissa West had six points each and Popovec and Danielle Pavlansky had six rebounds each.
"I am proud that our kids never stopped fighting," said coach Dave Pavlansky.
"Salem is just a little tougher and more experienced and that was the difference tonight."
Canfield committed 15 turnovers, while the Quakers had 20.