Salem has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will take on the Hartford Central Tanagers at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hopefully Salem focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 24 on Friday.
Salem struggled with offensive rebounds on Friday (the Lakers had nine more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Salem was dealt a 61-27 defeat at the hands of the Lakers. While losing is never fun, Salem can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 850th, while the Lakers are ranked 304th).
Despite their defeat, Salem saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Josh Harrington, who scored five points along with 12 rebounds and two steals, was perhaps the best of all. Harrington has been hot recently, having posted ten or more rebounds the last five times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Blaise Barrett, who scored nine points along with four steals.
Salem struggled to work together and finished the game with only three assists. That's the fewest assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Hartford Central came up short against the Golden Horde on Friday and fell 56-46.
Salem's loss was their 19th straight at home dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 0-17. As for Hartford Central, they have been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-11 record this season.
Salem was taken down by the Tanagers 78-37 in their previous meeting back in January. Can Salem avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
