By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

SALEM, Ore.–  South Salem’s Maggie Lapray had really come into her own the past few years as a member of the Saxons Girls Basketball team.  Going to JV Player freshman year, battling through the Covid-shortened season her sophomore year to become a captain her final two seasons as a South Salem basketball player.

And here she was, some 700-points and countless rebounds and assists later, Lapray was in the Lower Commons at South Salem High School signing her Letter of Intent to play basketball at Westcliff University in Irvine, California.

“It was a lot of motivation to get into the gym, get better…it really pushed me to be the best that I can be and now it shows now with me committing to Westcliff that I’ve done i but I still need to be putting in the work,” Lapray said of her last four years.  “It made me a lot more confident in myself, especially with me going to the next level where I’m starting all over again.  It’s nice to have that confidence and knowing that the underclassmen believed in me and trusted me to be a good example.  That’s what I’m going to bring to my college team.”

A first-team All-Central Valley Conference selection and helping the Saxons to a 11-14 record and a 6A State First Round appearance, Lapray points towards it being her dream to attend college in California and to get to this point of continuing her playing career.  Reassurance that she’s doing the right thing to be in this position now preparing for her first year of College Basketball.

“It’s reassurance that I’m doing what I need to be doing and to continue doing what I need to be doing,” starts Lapray.

Westcliff went 16-12 this past season and reached the postseason before falling to the University of Antelope Valley in the second round.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald