Louisville Falls in 3-Point Fest to Salem 69-65
FULL VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Salem 69, Louisville 65
The Salem Quakers hit 10 three-pointers and made clutch plays down the stretch to defeat the Leopards 69-65 in each team’s final NBC game of the season at John A. Cabas Gymnasium Friday night. The Leopards also hit 8 shots from beyond the arch in the contest and were led by Jake O’brien with 19 and Mike Kelly with 16.
Salem used a 15-4 run in the final four minutes of the game to push them over victory’s edge. They were ignited by Trent Kenreigh who scored 12 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter. He scored on a layup and added the “and one” at the line before later hitting a three-ball to tie the game at 63-63.
Billy Lairson then made 2-of-2 free throw attempts for Louisville to put the Leopards up by 2 before Max Wolfgang returned the favor with a lay-in on the other end to tie the game at 65-65.
With under two minutes to play, Kenreigh drove to the hole to give Salem their first lead since the third quarter. The capper came with 17.3 seconds left in the contest when Kenreigh stole a Louisville pass and took it coast-to-coast putting Salem up by the eventual final of 69-65.
Salem took an 18-16 lead after the first quarter. Ryan Bush scored 10 of his 15 points in the first quarter for the Quakers. The Quakers then used the three-ball to pull ahead to a 28-18 lead midway through the second quarter. Salem hit 10 of 24 total shots from three-point land including three each from Bush and Kenreigh.
But their lead didn’t last long as Louisville stormed back on a 12-1 run over the next 2:45. Kelly spearheaded the charge scoring 10 points in the quarter and hitting two three-pointers. Eventually Salem battled back enough to restore their lead at halftime 34-33.
Things really heated up in the third quarter as the two teams combined for 8 three-pointers and 37 points. O’brien hit 4 of his 5 three’s on the night in the period and put up 14 points. The Leopards hit 8 of 18 three-pointers on the evening and after buzzer-beating layup by Jon Crank, a new ball game began at the end of three with the score tied at 52-52.
The Leopards appeared to take control of the game early on in the fourth quarter as they jumped out to a 61-54 lead. Ronnie Carter scored 6 points in the quarter, Kelly had a beautiful lay-in while being fouled, and Lairson made a jumper off the glass to push Louisville out to an 8-point advantage. However, the Quakers busted through for a comeback victory after that.
The shootout lasted all game as Louisville shot 50% and Salem shot 48% from the floor. The key to the Quakers success was eliminating the Leopards second-chance opportunities as they out-rebounded Louisville 34-22 for the contest. The Leopards finish 5-9 in NBC play and are now 7-12 overall, while Salem closes out the regular season with a 8-12, 3-11 record.
STATISTICS
LEOPARDS: O’brien 7 0-0 19, Kelly 6 1-1 16, Meredith 4 1-3 9, Carter 3 2-2 8, Cheezan 3 0-0 6, Lairson 1 2-2 4, Crank 1 0-0 2, Schooley 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 25 7-10 65
TEAM FG: 25-50 50%
TEAM 3PT: 8-18 44% | O’brien (5), Kelly (3)
TEAM FT: 7-10 70%
QUAKERS: Kenreigh 10 3-7 26, Bush 5 2-3 15, Shivers 4 0-1 8, Economons 2 0-0 6, Webb 2 0-0 6, Wolfgang 2 0-0 6, Penick 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 27 5-11 69.
TEAM FG: 27-56 48%
TEAM 3PT: 10-24 42% | Bush (3), Kenreigh (3), Economons (2), Webb (2)
TEAM FT: 5-11 45%
Team 1-2-3-4-Total
Louisville 16-17-19-13–65
Salem 18-16-18-17–69
Rebounds: Salem 34-22
Fouls: Louisville 15-13
Records: Salem 8-12, 3-11; Louisville 7-12, 5-9
NEXT UP: The Leps will next host the Lake Blue Streaks for Senior Night in the season finale on Tuesday, February 21. JV will tip at 6:00 and Varsity will follow at approximately 7:30.
PICTURES
JV REPORT
Louisville 55, Salem 47
Ronnie Carter Dunk:
Video Courtesy of Caryn Duckworth
Eleven different Leopards scored during the Leps 55-47 win over Salem in the preliminary contest. Andy Minster led all Leopards with 12 points and hit two three-pointers in the second quarter. His buzzer-beating three at the end of the first half put Louisville up 31-19. Louisville seized all momentum in the first half on two plays: Ronnie Carter’s slammin’ dunk and Clay Hahn’s epic complete swat on defense. Salem fought back with the help of Andrew Dolphin’s 11 points that all came in the fourth quarter. However, the lead the Leopards built held strong and big blocks by Carter and Riley Greybeal aided Louisville on defense sending them to 12-7 on the season. They also finish 9-5 in NBC play.
Andy Minster Buzzer Beater Before Halftime:
JV PICTURES
JV STATISTICS
LEOPARDS: Andy Minster 5 0-0 12, Carter 3 1-2 7, Parks 1 4-4 7, Hollfield 3 0-0 6, Hoover 2 1-2 5, Duckworth 2 0-0 4, Greybeal 1 1-2 4, AJ Minster 2 0-0 4, Crank 0 3-4 3, Mathie 1 0-0 2, Shaheen 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 20 11-16 55.
3PT: 4 | Andy Minster (2), Greybeal (1), Parks (1)
TEAM FT: 11-16 69%
QUAKERS: Dolphin 4 3-4 11, Frank 3 2-2 9, Weikart 2 4-4 9, Hoover 3 0-1 7, Beazon 2 1-5 5, Madison 1 0-0 2, Popa 1 0-0 2, Wukatich 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 17 10-16 47.
3PT: 3 | Frank (1), Hoover (1), Weikart (1)
TEAM FT: 10-16 63%
Team 1-2-3-4–Total
Louisville 15-16-12-12–55
Salem 7-12-9-19–47
Fouls: Salem 15-12
