METRO ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Cotter goes over 1,000 points in Salem's victory

With a 72-23 win over Niles, the Quakers improved to 12-1.
By MARK W. MILLER
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
SALEM -- Alyson Cotter, a 6-foot senior, grabbed a rebound early in the third quarter, drove the length of the court and made a shot just in front of the basket.
In doing so, Cotter became the fifth player in the history of the Salem High girls basketball program to score a 1,000 career points.
She helped the Quakers post a 72-23 victory over Niles in a Metro Athletic Conference game in John Cabas Gymnasium Wednesday night.
Cotter missed a couple of shots early, but scored 11 of her game-high 19 points in the first half.
Goal satisfied
"I had to get those first shots out of the way," said Cotter. "I really wanted to get it [1,000 points] at home. That was exciting. This was a big goal for me."
A 13-2 run put the Quakers ahead 20-6 early in the game. Defense and a strong performance from the bench put Salem ahead 38-13 at halftime.
"Our defense has been playing aggressive in the last eight games and that's created a lot of turnovers," said Salem coach Steve Stewart. "It makes it a lot easier for us to get good shots.
"The defense has gotten better since the start of the season and the girls are very confident at what they are doing now," he added.
The Quakers (12-1) are 6-0 in the MAC.
"Our bench has matured and made a tremendous contribution," said Stewart. "We are nine-deep and that will be critical for us down the stretch."
Stewart said he told Cotter to score her points "in the flow of the game. She relaxed and got it done."
Eleven players scored for Salem, which forced 21 turnovers and outrebounded Niles 35-14.
Sarah Hamilton, a 5-11 junior for Salem, added 14 points, and junior Katherine McGarry finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.
The Red Dragons (6-5, 2-4) were limited to one field goal in nine attempts in the third quarter and fell behind 52-15.
Stephanie Parish led Niles with seven points and Jaclyn Sears added six.
The Quakers' all-time scoring leader is Valerie Scott, who played from 1990-94, with 1,707 points. Tami Bailey (1977-81) is second with 1,371, followed by Kelly Paxson (1996-2000) with 1,296 and Amy Goodballet (1981-85) with 1,256.