SALEM, Ore.—Working on driving down the court and laying up, the North Salem girls basketball team look to work on their intensity entering their games against McNary and West Salem.

And Vikings (0-4,0-1 Greater Valley Conference) Head Coach Bren Turner knows it starts with him.

“At all starts with me,” he said.  “And forcing the intensity up when they don’t do it themselves.  Motivating them and getting them to the point where they’re firing 100-percent of the time.”

During Friday’s game versus McKay, a late aggressive push led by Sydnee Rupp gave North some momentum that the team will hope it will continue to McNary Tuesday and West Salem Friday.

“We definitely have a big challenge this week,” said Rupp. “But if we put our minds to it, then we can do a lot better if we start aggressive and we stay aggressive for the whole game.

“Then I think we can take them on.”

Turner enjoyed Rupp’s performance during Friday’s game and said that her and Casey Welch both have that fire to help spark their team on any given time with their style and knows that he needs to get his team to be aggressive with the Celtics (2-1, 1-0GVC) press.

“A lot of girls aren’t born aggressive,” said Turner.  “You have to teach them how to be aggressive and that’s what I want to teach them how to be aggressive.

“With these girls, I’m trying to teach them:  Hit that seam, hit that crack,” described Turner on the game plan Tuesday.  “Hit the double team, they’re always the weak point.  You have to find it out and split it.

Rupp added that if they foul them early, then shots will follow.

“We are going to make them foul a lot more than usual,” she said on this week’s game plan.  “If we drive in every time, we’re going to get fouled.  So we’re going to keep driving.”

But what stuck out of the Monday practice, was Coach Andrew Cantu’s challenge to the team.  First to the Varsity team, then to the freshman:

Come together and play as one unit.

Tipoff is slated for 6:45pm at McNary in Keiser.

PHOTO GALLERY (PICTURES BY JEREMY MCDONALD)

Jeremy McDonald is a professional sports journalist in the Salem/Portland area and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalist in Oregon with B.S. degrees from Southern Oregon University in Journalism (2011) and Health/PE (2013).  Got a story idea? Email him at jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com or on Twitter at @J_McDonald81!

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