As Salem closes in on the end of the regular season, the Lady Tigers look to get back into the win column.
Three of Salem’s final four regular-season games are at home. Weather permitting, Salem was scheduled to host Mountain View Liberty Monday night and travel to Couch Tuesday. Then, Salem was to host Mountain Grove Thursday and conclude the regular season against St. Clair Feb. 24.
Last week, the Lady Tigers stumbled in a trio of non-conference road games. The Lady Tigers lost to Cuba/Viburnum 70-27 Feb. 10, to Steelville 65-34 Feb. 13 and to Sullivan 70-33 Feb. 14.
Salem dropped to 4-18 overall.
Feb. 14 – Sullivan 70, Salem 33: Valentine’s Day was anything but sweet for the Lady Tigers.
Sullivan stormed out to a 29-8 lead in the opening quarter. The Lady Eagles scored nearly 20 points in the second and went into halftime ahead 46-18.
Salem’s best quarter was in the third with 15 points, led by six apiece by sophomore Trista Dooley and junior Addison Fulton. Still, Salem trailed 67-33.
The Lady Tigers were held scoreless in the fourth.
Fulton led Salem with 14 points, including a perfect 10-for-10 effort from the charity stripe.
McKynlee Peterson and Molly Lohden scored 13 each for Sullivan.
Salem (4-18): Walters 3-0-6, Dooley 2-1-6, Fulton 2-10-14, Gilliam 1-0-2, Terrill 2-0-5.
Sullivan (6-11): Peterson 6-1-13, Lohden 6-0-13, Barton 3-1-7, Kirk 1-0-2, Schmuke 3-1-8, Miller 3-0-7, Shetley 3-2-9, Hayo 1-2-4, Head 2-2-7.
Feb. 13 – Steelville 65, Salem 34: Salem struggled to stop the red-hot Lady Cardinals in the first quarter. Steelville put in 20 points early and led by double-digits, 20-7, going into the second.
Three different Lady Cardinals nailed a 3-pointer in the second as Steelville led 34-16 at the break.
Steelville spent a majority of the third at the free throw line, converting on 9-of-17 attempts in the quarter. This helped Steelville build a 53-27 lead with a quarter to play.
Salem scored seven in the fourth.
Sophomore Raven Gilliam led Salem with 14 points, while Dooley added 10.
Emeri Perkins fired in 24 points for Steelville.
Salem: Walters 1-1-3, Mendenhall 1-0-2, Dooley 4-1-10, Fulton 1-1-3, Gilliam 5-3-14, Terrill 1-0-2.
Steelville (6-12): Decker 2-2-6, Hurd 5-0-12, Perkins 9-5-24, Bunkley 0-3-3, Turnbough 3-0-6, Halbert 4-1-12, Davis 0-2-2.
Steelville 20 14 19 12-65
Feb. 10 – Cuba/Viburnum 70, Salem 27: Just like Sullivan and Steelville, Cuba dominated in the first quarter, outscoring Salem 23-10.
Salem put in four points in the second and trailed 37-14 at halftime.
Steelville continued to pour in points after the break, firing in 20 and leading 57-19 heading into the fourth.
Cuba outscored Salem 13-8 in the fourth.
Fulton paced Salem with seven points. Courtney Caron led Cuba with 19 points.
Salem: Walters 2-0-4, Mendenhall 1-0-2, Dooley 1-0-2, Pipp 0-2-2, Fulton 3-1-7, Gilliam 1-0-2, Terrill 2-0-4, McDonald 1-0-2.
Cuba (13-10): Schmidt 5-0-10, Kaffer 2-2-6, Wigger 0-1-1, Garbo 8-3-19, Farris 1-0-3, Caron 7-2-19, Gibbs 1-0-3, E. Harris 2-0-5, L. Harris 1-2-4.