By Jeremy McDonald
jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– West Salem went NBA 2K-glitch mode in the second half against Crescent Valley. They were on fire if you are a classic NBA Jam fan.
In simple terms. They. Could. Hit. Everything.
First five shots. Three-pointers. Got them the lead at 32-31. The Raiders hit on three the first two shots out of half themselves. West Salem’s Brooks Ferguson broke the streak with a lay-in coming out of the mid-quarter media timeout.
Nonetheless the Titans were on a roll, taking a 51-42 lead into the fourth quarter. Expanding that lead 64-46 by the 3:45 mark of the final eight, riding that ridiculous momentum to their 66-54 Senior Day win Monday night.
Those first three three-pointers, along with three big defensive stops in between, created the snowball effect to help West Salem take control of the game.
“They were running that little option-play where they had two options to get out on three-point line, we started to go underneath that and trailering instead of going out over the top. We got those three stops and those three big shots and that was the rest of the game right there,” Holden Whipple said. “Those three stops. Those three buckets, that’s what did it for us and that’s won the game for us.”
“Shots weren’t falling in the first half, but in the second half we came out hot and it gave us the momentum to get going,” Alec Dyson adds. “It felt pretty good.”
Dyson finished with 19 points in the game with two three-pointers. Whipple added nine points, all off threes as the Titans hit on 12 threes in the game, eight in the second half alone as their shots finally were falling.
West Salem’s 39-12 run and momentum over the first 12 minutes of the second half mellowed down a bit with players circulating in from the bench. The Titans close out the season at West Albany before hosting Sprague and South Salem.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
