• Salem High School
• Pekin Eastern High School
• Basketball

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By Josh Lewis, Writer

The Lions and Musketeers faced off for the second time this season, and Eastern was able to get a little bit of revenge. Salem beat the Musketeers in the consolation game of the holiday tournament on a last second shot, and this time it was Eastern’s turn to hit a last second shot to give them the lead and win over Salem 46-42.

Both teams came out a little sluggish on offense as neither scored in the first two minutes. Kody Banet hit a three to give Eastern an early 3-0 edge, but Evan Lloyd answered for Salem to knot the game up at three. Kaleb Bonigbault hit a triple for Eastern to give them the lead back 6-5 late in the quarter.

Adam Mull got Salem a quick score and then Peyton Schocke hit two from the stripe to give the Lions a 9-8 lead early in the second quarter. The Lions defense started creating some turnovers to help them take a 14-10 lead midway through the quarter.

Garrett Drury and Banet answered with a few scores to give the Musketeers the lead back 16-14. Jackson Brough scored in the post for the Lions to tie it back up at 16, but Bongibault got a tip in at the buzzer to send Eastern into the locker room up two.

Salem regained the lead quickly coming out of the break. Kaiden Romero-Hembree got a couple quick scores with a three to push the Salem lead out 23-18. Banet hit a jumper with just over five minutes gone in the quarter to give Eastern their first points of the second half. With just two seconds left Drury scored in the paint to cut into the Lions lead 31-24 going into the final quarter.

Salem took a 34-24 lead early in the fourth, but Eastern caught fire from three. Banet and Bongibault combined for five straight triples to reclaim the lead 39-36. Romero-Hembree stopped the bleeding with a three for Salem to knot the game up at 39 with two minutes to play.

Brody Temple gave the Musketeers the lead back but Braxton Dean answered with a corner triple to give the Lions the lead once again with just over a minute to play. After some time ran off Bongibualt corralled an offensive board and put it back up and in to give the Musketeers the lead back with 30.1 seconds to play.

With a chance at a possible game winning shot there was a questionable travel call on the Lions that gave the Musketeers the ball back. Banet hit one from the stripe with 10.8 left. Schocke put up an off-balance three for the Lions but it didn’t fall. Temple then put the finishing touches on the win from the stripe by hitting two free throws with 1.8 left to seal the win.

Both teams will take the court again on Thursday as Eastern will host Henryville and Salem will host Silver Creek.

EHS scoring: Hurst 3, Banet 14, Bongibault 17, Drury 6, Temple 6

SHS scoring: Mull 4, Schocke 9, Lloyd 3, Brough 6, Dean 10, Romero-Hembree 10

Threes: Hurst, Banet 3, Bongibault 3, Schocke, Lloyd, Dean, Romero-Hembree 2

 Salem honored both the boys and girls sectional championship teams from 1985 in between games on Friday night.

Photos by Josh Lewis.

• Salem High School
• Basketball

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The rosters are set for this year’s Lions Unified basketball game at Salem High School! Mark your calendar for Saturday, March 15 at 7 p.m.

“This will be our 9th annual Unified Game. It gets bigger each year, and we have more students and Special Olympic athletes signed up to play this year than ever before,” said Angela Phipps. “The school band, mascots and cheerleaders will be in attendance as well to help with the game and festivities.”

Phipps went on to say that donations collected at the door and during the “Chuck-A-Duck” contest, sponsored by the Lady Lions, will all go directly to Lions Unified, and money raised at the concession stand will all be donated to Washington County Special Olympics.

Those interested are encouraged to order a “Lions Unified” shirt to wear to the game and around town. Click Here to order, and be sure to come out on March 15 for a night of fun and positivity!

• Wrestling

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Congratulations to the junior high Senator Wrestling Team for capturing their first county title last night at Salem!