SALEM, Ore.– McKay was outsized height wise by South Salem, with two Saxons towering over 6’10 and several others comfortably over six-foot.

But the Royal Scots proved scrappy against Goliath. They didn’t care where South were ranked, nor their height advantage when tip off occurred.

All they cared about was what was happening on the court of play when it mattered.

“We knew they were big competition for us so we just decided to come out with intensity,” said Noah Tavera.  “Work harder than them with the hope to out run them and burn them out and just keep going.”

A combination of things during the final four minutes of the first half and the entrie third period resulted in a 43-21 advantage against the McKay Men in South’s 88-70 victory Friday night.

“I thought we fought well tonight, it was a good team that played hard,” said McKay Scots Head Coach Dean Sanderson.  “It was a lot of things, but (South Salem’s) height was definitely a big thing.  Their athleticism is impressive and I thought they played well.”

Only the scoreboard would give you a clear leader in the game, but if you looked onto the court; there was a different story to be told.

The first 12 minutes of the game featured physical play around a strong press.

The Scots were winning the rebounding game, but the Saxons made a few more shots than McKay.

Following a run with 3:57 left in the half with South Salem leading 35-27, a bad stroke of luck went against the Scots.

Fouls caught up to them with calls going against McKay, turnovers were made and the height advantage of the Saxons put the momentum needle in their favor for good.

“At the beginning I like the competitiveness we had, then we just lost it,” said Demeris Bailey.  “We couldn’t rebound, we couldn’t make a free throw and it started to come down.”

The then eight-point deficit to ballooned to 62-33 407 left in the third quarter as the Scots couldn’t find their mojo that was there to start the game.

But then, a spark.

Five unanswered from Darrell Woods, steals from Wood and Shaton Daniels had gave McKay some confidence midway through the third behind a short lineup.

But the Saxons proved why they were the seventh best team in 6A as they kept McKay at bay despite several three-pointers from Khyler Beach in the fourth quarter.

“They matched our effort, which was pretty good,” said Sanderson. “They were more talented, more experienced .  When a team plays that hard, it’s really difficult and it was difficult tonight.

“But they’re a lot we can improve on.  Like Coach Martino told them in the locker room, ‘Get One-Percent better Every Day’.”

The Scots can get that one-percent better by reflecting on the positives of this loss as they turn their focus to Grants Pass.

“I think it prepares us because we are going to be seeing a lot of good teams that are very successful so we just got to prepare tomorrow,” said Bailey.  “Practice hard and go from there.”

“Our fight was good too, we’re going to learn from this and prepare for the next game,” added Woods, “So far we’re stepping in the right direction.”

SCORE            1          2          3          4          —  T

SAXONS          23        25        18        20        —  88

SCOTS            16        15        9          30        —  70

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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