Two SCA wins to end the regular season surpassed last year's win total and gives the Tigers momentum going into this week's district tournament in Union.
"It's always good to be playing well in February, which I think we are," said Coach Nic Zenker.
Salem finished the regular season 8-15 overall and 3-4 in the SCA with a 55-47 win Thursday over Mountain Grove in Salem and a 78-62 win over Cabool in a makeup game Saturday in Salem.
The total wins is one more than last year, while the Tigers loss total is four less.
"The Cabool victory assured us of finishing no lower than fifth in the conference after fishing last in the SCA last year with one win," Zenker said. "I am very proud of the entire team for this effort."
Salem can add to that total in tonight's (Tuesday) district action against Sullivan.
Salem is seeded fifth and Sullivan fourth. The two teams were supposed to play in the regular season. It was snowed out the first time. The makeup game was cancelled when the Tigers had to use that date to play Houston in SCA action.
Sullivan, Zenker said, is playing good basketball, but he believes the district tournament, with the exception of top-seeded St. Francis Borgia, is very competitive and wide open.
"We feel that we will have our hands full with Sullivan, but I think we can be competitive," Zenker said.
Salem shot well against Cabool and used several streaks to put away the Bulldogs.
Leading Cabool 38-30 at halftime the Tigers went on a 15-0 run to pull away.
Salem outscored Cabool 22-10 in the third quarter to lead 60-40 going into the fourth period.
"I thought we responded very well after a hard fought game against Mountain Grove less than 24 hours previous," Zenker said. "Cabool did a nice job attacking our man-to-man early, so we switched up our defense in the second quarter and really rebounded well out of our 3-2 zone."
After a 16-15 lead after one quarter, Salem outscored Cabool 22-15 in the second half for its halftime lead.
"Cody Whitaker (with two straight 3-point shots) was a big spark off the bench for us in the second quarter, and Jacob Kettner was very efficient in the first half as well."
The Tigers owned the second half thanks to Hambacker. Hambacker did not miss a shot in the second half, Zenker said.
The night before against Mountain Grove, the Tigers would jump out to a big lead, the Panthers would come back then Salem would go back out in front by big margins.
"This was a good win for us," Zenker said. "Mountain Grove had beaten us by three in their tournament about a month ago. It was nice to see the boys work hard and get the win."
The Panthers came back to close the gap to 48-45 in the fourth quarter. But a 3-point shot by Chad Elliott and a pair of free throws by Hambacker gave Salem some breathing room.
"I thought the boys showed a lot of heart and resolve in the fourth quarter," Zenker said. "The boys refused to lose, and executed well in the last two minutes of the game."
Salem 78, Cabool 62
Cabool 15-15-10-22-62
Salem 16-22-22-18-78
Chad Elliott 4-6 4-4 13, Brady Floyd 0-2 0-0 0, Jonathan Hambacker 9-9 0-1 18, Jacob Kettner 7-13 2-2 16, Jared Patterson 3-7 2-2 8, Dustin Sercl 1-6 0-0 2, Carson Sheppard 0-0 0-0 0, Dex West 2-7 3-4 7, Cody Whitaker 5-8 1-2 14.
Halftime: Salem 38, Cabool 30.
3-point field goals: Salem 4 (Whitaker 3, Elliott 3), assists: Salem 27 (Patterson 7, West 6), rebounds: Salem 33 (Kettner 12, Patterson 8), steals: Salem 11 (West 4, Hambacker 3), blocked shots: Salem 5 (Patterson 2, Elliott, Kettner and Sercl 1 each), turnovers: Salem 15, fouls: Salem 17.
Salem 55, Mountain Grove 47
Mountain Grove 11-17-7-12-47
Salem 10-22-12-11-55
Chad Elliott 7-16 2-2 19, Brady Floyd 0-0 0-0 0, Jonathan Hambacker 6-12 1-1 14, Jacob Kettner 3-7 0-0 7, Jared Patterson 1-3 0-0 2, Dustin Sercl 4-10 0-0 6, Carson Sheppard 0-0 0-0 0, Dex West 2-4 0-0 4, Cody Whitaker 1-4 0-0 3. Team totals: 24-56 3-3 55.
Halftime: Salem 22, Mountain Grove 28.
3-point field goals: Salem 7 (Elliott 3, Hambacker, Kettner, Sercl and Whitaker 1 each), assists: 15 (Patterson 6, Kettner 3), rebounds: Salem 21 (Hambacker 5, Elliot 4), blocked shots: Salem 3 (Elliott, Kettner and Sercl), steals: Salem 11 (Hambacker, Patterson and Sercl 3 each, Elliott, West and Elliott 1 each), turnovers: Salem 12, fouls: Salem 13.
