DEXTER — The Salem and South Pike girls engaged in a battle of tug-of-war Saturday night in the finals of the Dexter Holiday Tournament.
Momentum changed hands a number of times throughout the game. But it was South Pike which managed to break away late and won the championship, 52-50.
South Pike improved to 12-4 overall. Salem dropped to 10-4 overall.
Salem started fast and jumped out to a 7-0 advantage before South Pike rallied to tie the game 9-9 and end the first quarter with the score knotted 10-10. South Pike led 26-22 at halftime before the Lady Wildcats went on a 6-0 run for a 34-31 lead with 2:47 left in the third quarter.
South Pike regrouped and led 41-34 after three quarters. But Salem fought back. The Lady Wildcats led 48-47 with as late as 1:18 to play on an Ariel Fortenberry free throw. South Pike’s My’Neika Frazier knocked down a trey from the left side for a 50-48 lead with only 67 seconds left. South Pike never trailed again.
South Pike head coach Janice Felder said the Lady Eagles did what they had to do to pull out the victory.
“We tend to play the first half low key this season. During the second half, we fight our way back,” Felder said. “In this case tonight, we made some turnovers that let them back in the game.”
For the game, South Pike was 20 of 58 from the field, including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc. The Lady Eagles connected on 10 of 19 from the free throw line. Salem was 15 of 43 shooting from the field, including 3 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Senior forward Amber Harper led the Eagles in scoring with a 16 points. She was 5 of 12 shooting from the field, but was 6 of 9 from the line. Frazier scored five of her 10 points in the fourth quarter. Nakaylis Washington added 9 points.
Fortenberry scored a game-high 25 points to lead Salem. She was 9 of 13 shooting from the field, including 1 of 3 from beyond the arc. She connected on 6 of 8 free throws. Zoie Bridges contributed 10 points, including two treys in the fourth quarter.
“I’m just glad in the end we stuck with the gameplan,” Felder said. “The gameplan was to get in the zone and slow them down because they weren’t making any outside shots until the last two or three minutes of the game. We wanted to run the basketball.”
Salem head girls coach Brian Smith said his club tried to play the role of giant killer.
“Anytime a 1A school like us is playing a 4A school, it’s like David and Goliath, or ‘Hoosiers,’ ” Smith said. “I’m very proud of my girls’ effort. We dug deep and made a comeback. There were some questionable calls that didn’t go our way, but that’s life.”
Salem defeated West Lincoln 40-37 Thursday in the opening day of the tournament. The Lady Wildcats beat Wesson 61-52 on Friday to advance against South Pike. Salem opens Region 78-1A Tuesday at home against Lumberton.
“If we play against our district schedule like we played tonight against South Pike, we’ll be OK,” Smith said.
South Pike advanced to the finals by beating West Marion 54-53 in Friday’s semifinal. South Pike visits Brookhaven on Tuesday.
