Scullion leads Salem to 46-37 win

By Greg Gulas

SALEM — Amy Scullion scored 29 points and the Salem defense erased a 12-point deficit by limiting Canfield High to just 12 second half points as the Quakers defeated the Cardinals, 46-37, in an All-American Conference Red Tier game at John A. Cabas Gymnasium.

“My play comes off the team and tonight they just set me up with come great looks,” said Scullion. “I was just lucky enough to knock them down in order to keep us in the game.”

Scullion, who also hauled in a game high nine rebounds, was 9-of-18 from the field, including 1-of2 from beyond the arc as the Quakers (12-3, 3-2) avenged a 48-39 loss to the Cardinals on January 14.

At one point, Scullion was responsible for 26 of her team’s 32 points.

“We take pride in our defense and tonight it was no different,” said Scullion. “We seemed nervous to start the game, then settled down and kicked our defensive play up a notch in the second half.

“Our defense was the key to tonight’s victory. It’s all about defending your home court. They won at home and so did we,” she added.

“Amy [Scullion] is a one-of-a-kind athlete,SDRq said Salem coach Jeff Andres. “Whether it’s on the volleyball court, the basketball court or in the classroom, she is just special.”

Jillian Halfhill scored seven of her team-high 18 points in the second period as Canfield built a 21-9 advantage, outscoring the Quakers 13-9 in the quarter to take a 25-16 lead at the intermission.

“It was a tale of two halves. They did an excellent job of getting the ball into Amy [Scullion] and quite frankly, she hit some very hard shots tonight,” said Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky.

Salem took charge in the third quarter with a 12-0 run to forge a 28-25 lead, holding the Cardinals without a score until the 1:47 mark when Rachael O’Hara knocked down two free throws to cut the Quaker margin to 28-27.

A Halfhill bucket with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter then gave Canfield a 29-28 lead heading to the final eight minutes of play.

Two buckets by Halfhill and a floater by Kalie Luklan gave Canfield their last lead of the game, 35-34 with 4:03 remaining but Salem then went of a 12-2 run, keyed by Sauerwein’s and Ritchie’s three points each to seal the victory.