By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

MOUNT ANGEL, Ore.–  Santiam has been just absolutely locked ok this season after their slow start to start it, and their Tri-River Conference play has shown just that as they picked up their tenth league game of the year. Defeating Kennedy for the second time this year to keep pace with Salem Academy on top of the TRC Standings following the 54-47 victory.

Pacing the game was Quentin Clark with 18 points as the Wolverines jumped out to an 16-6 lead going into the final minute of the first quarter and staying focused throughout the remainder of the game to keep the Trojans from making a similar comeback as they did January 4 up at Mill City.

“We knew from the beginning of the year that we’ll do pretty good and we’ve been locked in all year.  We’ve had tough losses, we’ll learn from them and we work hard.  It’s how it is,” Clark said.  “We’re chasing (Pendleton), we want to win league and we’re just working hard every day.  We’re focused on one game at a time and that’s all we can focus on now because if we want to make it to Pendleton we got to win.”

For Kennedy, it’s a good learning experience as they sit a loss behind Western Christian and Regis who are battling out for third.  Their post play was good, post player Brett Boen had six of his 14 points in the third quarter as the Trojans chipped away at the 32-21 halftime deficit down to four with 3:15 left in the game.  But the main thing they can continue on coming down the stretch of the season is their perimeter shooting and their offense overall.

“These games are tough, but they’re going to help us.  I think we just need to get better at shooting.  Our posts are doing pretty good and our defense is doing pretty good, but our three-point shots are what our weakest points are right now,” said Kennedy’s William Schaecher.

Schaecher finished with six points and Javier Rodriguez contributed 12 points for Kennedy, who will head to Colton on Wednesday night.  Gage Twede scored 17 points and Ezra Downey added another 16 points for Santiam in the win with the Wolverines hosting Regis on Wednesday.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald