West Liberty-Salem’s boys basketball team avenged an earlier loss to West Jefferson in dramatic fashion Tuesday as the host Tigers pulled out a 54-53 win in overtime during Ohio Heritage Conference action.
The Tigers improve their record to 13-5 overall and 10-4 in the OHC North standings, while the Roughriders slip to 9-9, 7-7. West Jefferson had defeated WL-Salem 64-53 back in late December.
Tuesday’s game saw WL-Salem get off to a strong start in the first half. The Tigers led 14-9 after the first quarter and were ahead 27-23 at the break.
The Roughriders matched the Tigers 9-9 in the third quarter, which left WL-Salem ahead by four (36-32).
West Jefferson rallied in the fourth quarter with a 13-9 run. That tied the game 45-45 at the end of regulation. In overtime, WL-Salem clipped West Jefferson 9-8 to secure the victory.
Holden Nease sparked the Tigers with 15 points, Eli McGill had 11 points and Matthew Loffing and Nick Burden each had 10 points.
In junior varsity action, WL-Salem zapped West Jefferson 51-29. Logan Saylor led the Tigers with 14 points and Tanner LeVan had 11 points.
The freshman game saw the Tigers win 42-21. Andrew Kimball had 14 points for the winners and Lane Lucas added seven points.
WL-Salem hosts Mechanicsburg on Friday for its next Ohio Heritage Conference contest.