The Salem Lady Tigers dropped a pair of home games last week to potential postseason foe Cuba 57-21 Monday, Feb. 5 and to Steelville 43-39 Thursday, Feb. 8.
Salem lost its eighth straight contest, now 4-19 overall. Salem and Cuba could rematch in Class 4 District 3 postseason tournament later this month. District seeding has not been released. The tournament will be played Feb. 25 through March 1 at St. Francis Borgia High School.
This week, Salem will close out the regular season at Mountain Grove Monday, at Cabool Tuesday and at home against Ava Thursday.
Feb. 5 – Cuba 57, Salem 21: The Lady Tigers stayed within one possession in the first quarter and trailed 7-5 going into the second.
That would be the last time Salem stayed close in the contest, as Cuba outscored Salem 17-6 in the second. Addison Fulton put in four points for Salem in the period, but the Lady Tigers went into halftime behind 24-11.
Salem netted seven points in the third quarter and was down 34-18 at the end of the period.
Cuba went on a destructive 23-3 run to close out the contest. Taylor Fulton’s triple was the lone basket for Salem in the final quarter.
Kaminski, A. Fulton and Emily Strange scored six points each to lead Salem.
Tyra Haffer led Cuba with 22 points.
Cuba defeated Salem 45-7 in the junior varsity game. Abby Terrill had four for Salem and Raven Gilliam had three points.
Salem: Kaminski 2-0-6, T. Fulton 1-0-3, A. Fulton 3-0-6, Strange 2-1-6.
Cuba (16-6): Schmidt 1-0-3. J. Haffer 2-2-6, Garbo 1-0-2, Shockley 2-0-4, Caron 3-2-10, M. Pilkenton 2-3-7, Harris 0-1-1, T. Haffer 8-6-22.
Salem: Gilliam 1-0-3, Terrill 1-1-4.
Cuba: Schmidt 6-0-12, Garbo 1-0-2, H. Pilkenton 1-0-2, E. Harris 3-0-9, Hanes 6-0-12, Sanders 2-1-5.
Feb. 8 – Steelville 43, Salem 39: The Lady Tigers spent a lot of time the charity stripe against the Lady Cardinals.
Salem attempted 30 free throws, converting on 18 of those in the contest.
In the opening quarter, Salem netted one basket, a trey from Kaminski, and five free throws to take an 8-4 edge early on.
Steelville posted 16 points in the second, but Kaminski fired in eight of her own, keeping Salem ahead 21-20 at intermission.
Salem took its largest lead of the game in the third quarter, fueled by six points from Kaminski and a Gilliam triple, and the Lady Tigers were ahead 34-38 with a quarter to play.
However, Salem’s final quarter looked like the first, and the Lady Tigers managed one basket and three free throws. Steelville scored 15 in the fourth quarter.
Kaminski poured in 20 points for the Lady Tigers.
Abby Kreitner had 22 for Steelville.
The junior varsity Lady Tigers lost to Steelville 49-10. Kennedi Wallace had six points to lead Salem, while Zoey Elliot and Poppy Kiser had two points each.
Salem (4-19): Walters 2-1-5, Kaminski 6-6-20, A. Fulton 0-4-4, Gilliam 1-2-5, Strange 0-5-5.
Steelville (10-11): Kreitner 7-7-22, E. Perkins 0-2-2, M. Perkins 3-5-11, Decker 1-0-2, Hurd 2-0-4, Bailey 1-0-2.
Salem: Wallace 2-0-6, Elliot 1-0-2, Kiser 1-0-2.
Steelville: Hurd 6-2-14, Brooks 1-0-2, Decker 1-1-4, Pryor 1-0-2, Boone 3-0-6, Perkins 3-0-7, Smelser 0-1-1, Davis 3-0-6, Eilart 3-0-6, Parrett 0-1-1.
