Salem gets real battle from Rayen

Katie Scullion's last-period scoring helped the Quakers prevail, 46-42.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
AUSTINTOWN -- The Salem High girls found themselves in a game-long struggle against a vastly-improved Rayen team Thursday night in the nightcap of the girls Division II District basketball tournament at Fitch High.
The No. 2-seeded Quakers had to call on the scoring of Leah Perry, Kelly Roelen and then Katie Scullion in that order during the game to ward off the No. 3-seeded Tigers, who played a very physical game powered by Brittney Taylor and Tieara Jones.
But a strong offensive finish by Scullion, a 5-foot-11 sophomore who scored eight of her 10 points in the final period, enabled Salem to pull away from Rayen and then hold on for a 46-42 win to advance to the district final.
The Quakers (18-5) advanced to play top-seeded Howland (19-4) in the district final Saturday at 1 p.m. The Tigers moved on with a 53-28 win over Liberty in Thursday's opener. The district champ will go to the Barberton Regional.
Roelen leads the way
Roelen, a 5-7 sophomore, scored 13 points, including three 3-point goals, and had five assists and four steals, to lead Salem, while Perry, a 5-11 junior, added 10 points. Scullion also had six rebounds while Laci Meals, a 5-3 senior, chipped in with five points and five assists
Taylor, a very strong and physical 5-8 sophomore, scored 18 points to lead Rayen while Jones, a 5-11 junior with a lot of moves to the hoop, added 13 with 11 rebounds. Kenysha Tennant-Beachum contributed seven points, five assists and four steals, and Cheryl Green., a 5-9 junior, had four steals.
Although Taylor keyed Rayen's offense, she also missed a lot of shots -- 8-for-23 -- while Jones was 6-for-14. And the Tigers made only 1-for-13 from 3-point range and 17-for-55 overall from the field.
But despite the poor shooting, Rayen was in the game till the end.
Perry has strong start
Perry scored eight of her points in the first quarter while Roelen hit back-to-back 3-point goals late in the second period, to help Salem hold a 20-19 halftime lead. Perry had all 10 of her points in the first half.
Meanwhile, Taylor had 10 points and Jones seven in the first half to keep the Tigers close.
Starting the second half, Roelen popped a goal to pad her streak to eight straight points, and then added another 3-point goal to give the Quakers a 29-25 lead late in the third period.
Then Scullion turned the tide of the game. She scored eight of the Quakers' next 12 points to help them break out to a 41-33 lead with 1:55 left, her final two coming from the foul line.
Also Salem's final five points came from the foul line -- three from Meals and two from Roelen -- while Rayen kept it close to the wire Tennant-Beachum's five free throws.
kovach@vindy.com