By Jeremy Mcdonald

Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club honored Salem Academy’s Celia James (Girls Basketball), the Crusaders Aly Herber (Girls Basketball), South Salem’s Brook Tate (Girls Basketball), West Salem’s Jimmy Lathen (Boys Basketball) and McNary’s Jabol Balos (Boys Basketball) for the Week of February 10.

Here’s the Press Release:

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from Salem Academy Girls Basketball, is Celia James.


Salem Academy girls’ basketball is currently 19-2 on the season and ranked #2 in the state. Celia, a sophomore, plays guard for the Crusaders. In a three game week last month, Celia averaged 11 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals a game. She capped the week off with Friday’s game, scoring 17 points, grabbing 8 boards, dishing out 3 assists, and collecting 5 steals for the dominating road win over Culver.



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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from Salem Academy Girls Basketball, is Aly Herber.

Salem Academy girls’ basketball is currently 19-2 on the season and ranked #2 in the state. Aly, a senior, plays post for the Crusaders. During the last week of January Aly averaged 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists, and 1 block per game while shooting 46% from the field as the Crusaders recorded key wins over Colton, Kennedy, and Santiam.

This is Aly’s fourth AOTW, two for volleyball and two for basketball. She also was SSBC’s Senior Athlete of the Year for volleyball.

Aly will continue her basketball career at Northwest Nazarene next year.



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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from South Salem Girls Basketball, is Brook Tate.

Brook, a freshman, plays post for the 4-4 Saxons. Thrown into being a starter due to teammate injuries, Brook had a breakout week last week. Against Sprague she had 12 points and 13 rebounds. Against McNary she scored 22 while grabbing 10 boards. From Coach Adrian Lewis: “She is tough, a great rebounder, and can score inside or from three-point range. She was thrown into being a starter because of injuries and she has blossomed into a dominant force. She truly deserves to be recognized for her effort.”



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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from West Salem Boys Basketball, is Jimmy Lathen.

Jimmy is a senior and four-year varsity player for the Titans who are 7-1 in league. In the 57-51 win over Sprague Jimmy scored 18 while grabbing 9 boards. In the 74-62 January win over McNary, he had 27 points and another 9 boards. Jimmy is averaging 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds on the season. Coach Travis Myers says, “[Jimmy] has steadily improved throughout his career. He is the only player in my tenure to be a varsity rotation player in all four years. Not only is he a great athlete, but he is an amazing young man who puts others first and always wants what is best for the team. He is a 4.0 student in the classroom and a leader in the school.”



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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from McNary Boys Basketball, is Jabol Balos.

Jabol, a senior, plays guard for the Celts who are 6-2 in league. In last week’s 64-50 win over North, Jabol scored 16 and grabbed 7 boards, going 14 of 16 from the free throw line. In the 72-57 win over South he had a complete stat line scoring 12, grabbing 3 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists, and stealing the ball 3 times. In addition to his great games last week, he hit the game winning basket Tuesday night to beat West Salem, previously undefeated in conference play, at at the buzzer! Says Coach Ryan Kirch, ““Jabol has had a tremendous season and continues to get better as the season goes on. He is one of the quickest players I have coached in 22 years, and has the ability to get around nearly anyone who tries to guard him. This season he has really grown into a complete player on both ends of the floor and is one of the most dangerous players in the league…Jabol is a great player; more importantly a great teammate; and most importantly a great person. We’re blessed to have him in our program.”