West Salem 51, Summit 50: Top Performers
Thursday night showcased a tough battle between two familiar adversaries as Summit HS was pitted against West Salem in a league match-up. The early game stories were revolved around the absence of Justin Scoggin due to injury, who has been…
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Continue ReadingThursday night showcased a tough battle between two familiar adversaries as Summit HS was pitted against West Salem in a league match-up. The early game stories were revolved around the absence of Justin Scoggin due to injury, who has been stellar for the Titans this season. Although West Salem missed the scoring capabilities of Scoggin, basketball was to be resumed for the Titans as they took on the Storm. Holden Wipple was the surprise for the Titans as he showed off his three-point shooting skills and was relied on for his rebounding abilities as well. Jackson Lowery played a menacing inside/out game and paced the Titans throughout the entirety of the game.
The big scorer for the Storm was senior Jacob Tompkins, as he also illustrated that he can affect the game in a wide variety of ways through his defense hustle, grit, and determination. Sophomore Julian Mora struggled to find the basket, as he was feeling under the weather but still played a solid game and found ways to contribute to his team. “I wasn’t making my shots tonight so I tried to do everything else. Tried to find everyone else, tried to facilitate. Did what I can to help the team win”. The physicality of West Salem stifled Summit, however, the Storm came away from the first half up 26-18. The Storm held the lead for a wide majority of the game, until the fourth quarter were things began getting closer as each team took turns exchanging the lead.
Wipple and Lowery continued getting rebounds down low and getting good looks at the basket to keep it a close battle. Summit relied on a red hot Jacob, who single handedly kept them in the battle. With the game tied at 50-50, all Summit needed was a defensive stop to force the game into Overtime. Nate Garcia for West Salem got fouled and sank one of two free throws, putting the Titans up 51-50 with 1.6 seconds to go. Summit’s full court hail mary play nearly worked, but ultimately came up short as Summit lost a heartbreaker. Here are the top performers from the game.
Jackson Lowery (West Salem HS): the physical forward played tough the entire game, finding his way inside for some hard earned points as Summit had little answers for him. Played tough defensive interiorly and made it difficult for anyone to score inside. Contributed 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists for West Salem.
Holden Wipple (West Salem HS): the big man for the Titans hit two huge three’s, including one during the second half that surged the late run for the team. The 6’5” post held it down in the middle alongside Lowery, as Summit had to work for their points. Wipple had 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
Alex Dyson (West Salem HS): the 6’4” junior chipped in some much needed offense to help the Titan’s cause, as he was relied on to make the occasional outside shot and simply put the ball in the basket. Had a 10 point cause in West Salem’s efforts on offense.
Jacob Tompkins (Summit HS): the senior was putting on a full fledged effort, playing with tremendous effort on both sides of the ball as he scored 30 points and had 10 rebounds in a losing effort. Tompkins, who is amongst the top scorers in the State, showed that his game is more than scoring as he showed that he is a capable and willing leader as well.
Julian Mora (Summit HS): the sophomore, who was playing sick and was a gametime decision, couldn’t get his shot to drop. However, he help ease the pressure off Tompkins with his calm demeanor and ball handling skills. Helped moved the ball around and found open teammates as he still found a way to be a cog within the offense despite his shooting struggles. Contributed 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists for the Storm.
Michael Schutz (Summit HS): the big man downlow for the Storm had his presence known on the defensive end, where he pulled down rebounds like it was his day job and blocked some shots as well. Raw offensively, but whenever he was in the game he played with a lot of effort and resilience. Chipped in 2 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks for Summit.