02-11-2021
BY JACK BULLOCK
SALEM - The Salem Wildcats lost a pair of games to open the season with a close loss at home to Fairfield on a last second shot (61-59) and a rough road defeat at Freeburg (50-36) where the 'Cats scored just 10 points in the first half.

Coach Andy Fehrenbacher was looking for a 'break out' game for his club when Wesclin came to town on Thursday night in each of the teams' second Cahokia Conference Mississippi Division games.

The Wildcats' mentor got the performance he was waiting on.

Salem 'clamped down' on the visitors, holding Coach Brent Brede's Warriors to just six points in the second half.

Behind three players in double-digits and a huge rebounding advantage, the Wildcats improved to 1-2 overall with a dominating 55-29 victory.

“Our defense set the tone tonight. They (Wesclin) are a high powered offensive shooting team and we just told the kids to keep them in front of you, keep your hands up, contest the shots and rebound,” said Coach Fehrenbacher. “After that you could see our confidence build on the offensive end.”

Six-foot-one senior Haddon Lybarger and 5-foot-9 senior Donovan Williams each netted 15 points while 5-foot-11 junior forward Caden Bee added 14 points and game best seven rebounds in the victory for Salem.

But it was the defensive effort on the night, especially in the final 16 minutes, that got Coach Fehrenbacher's club the well deserved “W.”

It was bitterly cold outside of historic B.E. Gum Gymnasium with a 21 degree temperature, which was slightly warmer that the Wesclin shooting percentage in the second half.

Coach Brede's squad hit just 3-of-19 field goal attempts in the final two quarters (15.8 percent) including 1-of-9 in the third stanza as they saw a 23-21 halftime lead disappear in a matter of moments.

Salem outscored Wesclin, 18-2 in the third quarter to take command of the contest which turned into a 34-6 advantage in the second half.

The Warriors were led with eight points each from seniors Cameron Brandmeyer and Carson Wessel.

After a good first quarter and a half, few things went well for the Warriors as they saw their overall and conference marks slip to 1-1.

At the start, Wesclin jumped out to a lead with Wessel connecting twice from behind the arc while senior Luke Serrano also added a 3-point bomb to give the Warriors a 13-5 lead after one quarter.

Wesclin extended the lead to it's largest with a pair of buckets, one each from senior Devon Kahrhoff and senior Cole Macke, as they led 19-9 with 6:02 remaining in the second quarter.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, they struggled the rest of the game in all facets.

Salem cut into the lead before intermission with a 12-4 run behind three scores from Williams.

He hit a pair of mid-range shots and went up high in the air for a tip-in offensive rebound in the run.

Sophomore guard Seth Bailey scored on a baseline drive and Bee hit a shot in the lane to close the Wildcats deficit to just 23-21 at the break.

After Bee and Brandmeyer traded baskets to open the second half, Salem took control.

Williams nailed three 3-pointers; from the right corner, the right wing and near the top of the circle while Lybarger drove to the basket for a score.

“He (Williams) was 1-for-12 from the 3-point line coming into tonight but he got a couple of shots to go down and sometimes that is all that it takes to get going,” said Coach Fehrenbacher.

Six-foot-four sophomore Charlie Fehrenbacher came off of the bench and got in on the fun by nailing a 3-pointer.

Bee finished the third quarter onslaught with a bucket on an inbounds pass with :04 left.

When the horn went off, Salem had went from being down two points at halftime to having a 39-25 lead.

“The effort up and down the floor was phenomenal for us. It was a complete 180 from our game at Freeburg the other night. But we came back and got a much needed victory against a quality team,” said Coach Fehrenbacher. “They (Wesclin) got us twice last year and kind of had their way with us. We did not play well either game last year. We needed to come out and show them what we are and I thought we did that tonight.”

The Warriors went just 1-of-9 from the floor in that eight minute span and added a couple of turnovers to the problems.

A 9-2 scoring burst by the hosts took the drama away early in the fourth quarter.

Lybarger scored six-straight points.

He hit a 3-pointer from the left wing on the first trip and then grabbed a rebound of his own missed shot and his put-back found the mark as he was fouled by Brandmeyer.

Lybarger knocked down the free throw for a 45-25 lead with 5:50 left.

Bee added a score on a nice baseline drive for a reverse lay in and, on the next possession, converted 1-of-2 free throws.

Lybarger closed out his night and the scoring with seven straight points as he ended up with 11 in the quarter.

He nailed down a pair of free throws, drilled his second 3-pointer of the quarter and scored on a sideline set play inbounds lob pass.

When he scored on the lob with 1:48 remaining, Salem led 55-29 which ended up as the final score.

Another telling stat of the contest was rebounding as the Wildcats 'pounded the glass' with a 33-12 advantage.

This included 10 offensive rebounds.

Williams and Lybarger each had five rebounds to help out Bee.

Six-foot-two junior Kaleb Anthony didn't score a point but he hauled down six rebounds for Salem.

Trent Boles, a 6-foot-4 senior, added a basket and a pair of free throws for four points.

Salem ended up 21-of-42 from the field and 6-of-14 from the arc.

The Warriors final tally was 13-of-42 (30.9 percent) overall and 3-of-23 (13 percent) from 3-point land.

They added seven turnovers and grabbed only three offensive rebounds in the game.

Both teams head back into action on Saturday with Wesclin set to host New Athens while Salem will hit the road for a game at Columbia.

“I think the biggest thing was that we played a lot more loose tonight than we did in our previous two games,” said Coach Fehrenbacher. “I think just with the uncertainty of this season I told them lets just go out and have a little fun.”

Wesclin (29) – Fridley 1 0 0-0 0, Marks 0 0 0-0 0, Wessel 1 2 0-0 8, Kahrhoff 2 0 0-0 4, Brandmeyer 4 0 0-2 8, Serrano 0 1 0-0 3, Macke 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-10, 3FG-3, FT-0-2, PF-16.
Salem (55) - Brendan Phillips 0 0 0-0 0, Bailey 1 0 0-0 2, Quinn 0 0 0-0 0, Lybarger 3 2 3-5 15, Rose 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 3 3 0-0 15, Koehnke 1 0 0-0 2, Fehrenbacher 0 1 0-0 3, Bee 6 0 2-4 14, Anthony 0 0 0-0 0, Brayden Phillips 0 0 0-0 0, Boles 1 0 2-2 4.
2FG-15, 3FG-6, FT-7-11, PF-9.
Fouled Out – Serrano - Wesclin.
Technical Fouls – None.