The Salem Academy Crusaders were the 54-20 winner over the Willamina Bulldogs when they last played one another back in February of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. Salem Academy lost to Willamina on the road by a decisive 44-27 margin on Thursday. While losing is never fun, Salem Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Oregon basketball rankings (they are ranked 140th, while Willamina is ranked 48th).
Willamina found their leader in underclassman Hadley Hughes, who scored 19 points along with nine rebounds and two steals. That makes it four consecutive games in which Hughes has scored at least a third of Willamina's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Grace Terbush, who scored 11 points.
Salem Academy bumped their record down to 4-9 with that defeat, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Willamina, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season.
Salem Academy won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Regis at 5:30 p.m. on January 12th. As for Willamina, they will head out on the road to take on Blanchet Catholic at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
