West Liberty-Salem’s boys basketball team picked up a big Ohio Heritage Conference win Friday by defeating host Cedarville 57-42.
The Tigers move to 9-3 overall and 7-3 in the OHC standings. The Indians, who lead the OHC South division, slide to 10-3, 8-2.
“I am really proud of our defensive effort tonight,” said WL-Salem head coach Darrin Leichty. “As a team, we held a very offensive-minded team to about 19 points below their average.”
WL-Salem’s offense was clicking from the start as the Tigers opened the game with a 19-4 run. Cedarville slowed WL-Salem down in the second quarter with a 6-6 effort. That left the Tigers with a 25-10 halftime lead.
The third quarter saw WL-Salem pushed its lead to 17 at 44-27. Cedarville was unable to mount a threat in the final period.
Matthew Loffing led the Tigers with 19 points, Holden Nease had 12 points, Nick Burden tallied 11 points and Jack Eggleston added nine points.
In junior varsity action, Cedarville held off WL-Salem 42-37. Owen Johnson led the Tigers with 14 points.
WL-Salem hosts Springfield Catholic Central on Friday for its next OHC contest.
WL-SALEM 57, CEDARVILLE 42
WL-SALEM (9-3, 7-3)
Loffing 6 5-5 19; Woodruff 1 0-0 2; Burden 4 0-0 11; Eggleston 3 3-4 9; Nease 5 1-1 12; McGill 2 0-0 4. Totals: 21 9-10 57.
CEDARVILLE (10-3, 8-2).
Ramey 2 0-0 4; Koning 5 0-2 12; Herron 1 0- 3; Baldwin 1 0-0 2; McKinnon 3 0-0 6; Cross 7 0-2 15. Totals: 19 0-4 40.
Tigers 19 • 6 • 19 • 13 — 57
Indians 4 • 6 • 17 • 15 — 42
Three pointers: WL-Salem 6 (Burden 3, Loffing 2, Nease); Cedarville 4 (Koning 2, Herron, Cross). Team fouls: WL-Salem 5; Cedarville 10.