Barram’s Final Season At South

By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

SALEM, Ore.– It’s weird to imagine things are getting back to normal after how things ended on the basketball court two years ago when South Salem’s Halley Barram was a sophomore.

The now senior just played a minute in the Saxons big rallying win over McMinnville right as the Covid-pandemic struck. In the six-week shortened season back in the Spring, Barram and the Saxons went 10-5 in a rebuilding year as they wrapped up their last week of optional workouts before the season starts.

“I’m excited to get to play all the teams like the Bend schools and some of the schools that we didn’t get to play once last year or haven’t seen in a while. So, it’ll be nice to see all of them again,” Barram said.

With some familiar faces in the gym from this past Spring like Barram, Emma Cordero, Maggie Lapray and Nora Williams Wednesday night, what they ran in the Spring is still fresh with the hope for them to build on it. Their first game of the season will be on December 3 at Franklin High School with a jamboree on December 1 at Canby.

And with her being one of the few seniors on the squad this year, Barram is hoping to fill one of the leadership roles for the squad this season. The non-verbal, lead-by-example approach is there for Barram, but the senior admits that her verbal communication is something she can improve upon as she enters this season.

Barram holds onto the ball during Wednesday’s Open Gym at South Salem High School. First official practice is November 15 (Picture By Jeremy McDonald)

“I struggle to be vocal sometimes, so being that kind of leader and leading by example. But being able to call girls out as a vocal leader this year will be a good asset,” Barram said. “We didn’t lose a ton of girls (from the Spring).

“I think we have like six seniors this year so we have a lot of leadership. We can go to a lot of different people and I think like we did last year, just spreading the love and just getting everyone involved we’ll be definitely better as a team.”

And as the dawn of the season approaches, Barram committed to take her talents to Arizona beyond this season, signing her Letter of Intent to play basketball for Arizona Christian University. ACU plays at the NAIA level and is located in Glendale, Arizona with Barram happy with getting it out of the way now so she can focus on the season ahead with South Salem.

“I’m super excited, but I’m just glad I’ve decided and focus on now and make the most of this year. I’m really excited about having a full season this year for sure,” Barram said.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald