• Salem High School
• Pekin Eastern High School
• Basketball

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

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!

• Salem High School
• Pekin Eastern High School
• West Washington High School
• Basketball
• IHSAA

By Dennis Dunn, Writer

The IHSAA held their annual girls basketball sectional pairings show on Sunday, January 26, and all teams discovered their fate with the post season set to begin on February 4. All three county schools will play their sectionals on the road as Salem and Eastern will compete in the Class 2A Sectional 46 at Crawford County and West Washington will begin play in the Class A Sectional 63 at Borden.

The Lions (1-16) have struggled offensively this season as they are in the midst of a 16-game losing streak after winning their first game of the season 34-30 over Mitchell. The most they have scored in a game since then was 31 against South Central.

The Lions will play the second game on Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. against Lanesville, who have won two-straight Class A state titles. The Musketeers (10-11) will open up sectional play against Paoli at 6 p.m. on Feb. 4. Clarksville and Mitchell will play the second game at 7:30 p.m. continuing the first night. The host school, Crawford County, will play the first game at 6 p.m. against Providence on the second night. The semifinals will be played on Feb. 7 and the championship game is slated for Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

The Lions are 1-3 against sectional opponents this year as their only win was over the Bluejackets. Their losses came to Crawford County (64-20), Eastern (69-20) and Paoli (49-28). The Musketeers are 4-1 against sectional opponents as they have defeated Crawford County (43-36), Salem, Mitchell (62-11) and Clarksville (59-29). Their only loss came to Lanesville (65-46).

The Senators (10-12) will play the host school Borden at 6 p.m. on February 5. Rock Creek Academy will battle Christian Academy at 7 p.m. on February 4. Henryville will play South Central at 7:30 p.m. on February 5, and New Washington drew the bye and will play the winner of the RCA-CAI game at 6 p.m. on February 7 in the semifinals. The championship will be played at 7 p.m. on Saturday, February 8.

The Senators are 2-2 against sectional opponents this year with wins over Henryville (52-43) and Rock Creek Academy (74-11). Their losses came against Christian Academy (47-39) and South Central (42-36).

Class 2A Sectional 46 at Crawford County

Feb. 4

GM 1: Eastern vs. Paoli, 6 p.m.

GM 2: Clarksville vs. Mitchell, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 5

GM 3: Crawford County vs. Providence, 6 p.m.

GM 4: Lanesville vs. Salem, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 7

GM 5: Winner of GM 1 vs. Winner of GM 2, 6 p.m.

GM 6: Winner of GM 3 vs. Winner of GM 4, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 8

Championship: Winner of GM 5 vs. Winner of GM 6, 7:30 p.m.

Class A Sectional 63 at Borden

Feb. 4

GM 1: Rock Creek Academy vs. Christian Academy, 7 p.m.

Feb. 5

GM 2: West Washington vs. Borden, 6 p.m.

GM 3: Henryville vs. South Central, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 7

GM 4: New Washington vs. Winner of GM 1, 6 p.m.

GM 5: Winner of GM 2 vs. Winner of GM 3, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 8

Championship: Winner of GM 4 vs. Winner of GM 5, 7 p.m.

• Salem High School
• Basketball
• Homecoming

By Josh Lewis, Writer

The Lions got a big win on homecoming night. Salem came in seeking their second win in a row and found it in a tight game against Corydon. Both teams went back and forth, but the Lions prevailed by holding off the Panthers rally for the 54-50 win.

Evan Lloyd opened the game with a corner three to give the Lions a quick lead, but the Panthers responded with a 10-0 run to claim the lead. Salem hung around though and stopped the bleeding with a hustle play from Braxton Dean who corralled a loose ball and hit a jumper to stop the run. Lloyd got a steal and a layup a few possessions later to make it a 13-9 game late in the first quarter.

In the second Corydon looked like they might start pulling away again after a three made it a 20-13 game, but Kaiden Romero-Hembree scored back to back baskets in the paint to narrow the margin. Adam Mull got a steal and a layup to bring Salem closer and a three from Payton Schocke tied the game up at 20. Baskets from Jackson Brough and Dean gave the Lions a 24-20 lead with less than a minute to go. Then another triple from Schocke gave the Lions a 27-22 lead heading into the break.

The Panthers came out of the second half with an adjustment that threw Salem off their game for a minute. Corydon utilized a diamond press defense that created a few turnovers and some easy baskets to gain some early momentum. But Salem adjusted and Adam Mull got a layup to push Salem’s lead back out 33-28. But Corydon hit a few more shots and a three late in the quarter gave them the 36-35 lead, and then a bucket at the buzzer sent them into the final stanza with a 41-38 lead.

Schocke hit an early three for the Lions to knot the game at 41. Back to back threes for Corydon gave the Panthers a 47-43 lead. But Dean and Romero-Hembree both got scores to tie the game up at 49 with just over three minutes to play. Two free throws from Schocke gave the Lions a 51-49 lead with 2:50 to go in the game.

Both teams traded a few turnovers down the stretch, and Corydon missed some crucial free throws to keep Salem in front. After one made free throw Romero-Hembree found Dean wide open running down the court for the easy layup to push the lead out to three with 33.5 seconds to go. Corydon missed a few more from the stripe and Schocke put the game on ice with a free throw with just 3.4 ticks left to seal the win for the Lions.

Salem went on the road on Saturday night to North Harrison and fell 59-47. The Lions will travel to Orleans on Tuesday.

SHS scoring: Mull 8, Schocke 14, Lloyd 10, Brough 4, Dean 12, Romero-Hembree 6

CHS scoring: Fessel 17, Lindemann 15, Wolfe 6, Doblado 5, Wilkison 7

Threes: Lindemann 4, Wolfe 2, Wilkinson, Schocke 3, Lloyd 2

Photos by Josh Lewis.