South Salem’s Evina Westbrook (22) moves with the ball past West Salem’s Kayla Bain (25) in the West Salem vs. South Salem girl’s basketball game at South Salem High School on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.
South Salem’s Hannah Hersh (14) tries to pass the ball past West Salem’s Kayla Bain (25) in the West Salem vs. South Salem girl’s basketball game at South Salem High School on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.
South Salem’s Simone Leaks (30) is boxed in by West Salem’s Tayler Gunesch (2) and Brenna Redman (12) in the West Salem vs. South Salem girl’s basketball game at South Salem High School on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.
West Salem’s Cari McCrae (32) looks to pass the ball against South Salem’s Tori Swanson.
South Salem’s Jordan Woodvine (10) and Simone Leaks (30) and West Salem’s Riley Gunesch (33) and Jenna Markel (31) all go up for a rebound in the West Salem vs. South Salem girl’s basketball game at South Salem High School on Tuesday.
Jordan Woodvine didn’t feel like she started the season as well as she wanted.
South Salem High School’s 5-foot-11 senior wing wasn’t always the scoring presence she had been her first three years at the school.
It’s apparent she’s back.
Woodvine scored 24 points to go along with Evina Westbrook’s 21 points as the No. 2-ranked South Salem girls basketball team remained undefeated in the Greater Valley Conference with a 62-45 win against West Salem on Tuesday.
“Yeah, I might get bummed if I actually don’t score much, but I have to look on the bright side and see like, did I help with assists, did I help with my rebounds, was I good on defense,” said Woodvine, who has signed to play in college at Boise State.
“I feel like I’ve been picking it up the second half of the year, starting with the McNary game I felt like I started picking up and finding my place on the court as a senior.”
When Woodvine is at her best is when she and Westbrook, the standout junior point guard, are in the open court.
Though the Saxons run set plays to get the two involved together in the halfcourt game, when they’re on a fast break they’re almost unstoppable.
“You just kind of like feel it where other teammates are,” Westbrook said. “She just kind of reads what I do, I read what she does. We just go back and forth. We complement each other really good.”
South Salem improves to 16-1 and 9-0 in the GVC with its sixth straight win while dropping West Salem, which was without leading scorer Delaney Henery, to 12-5 and 6-3 in the GVC.
A Saxon team that is aiming to win its second straight OSAA Class 6A state championship dropped to No. 2 from No. 1 in the OSAA’s power rankings despite sweeping the first half of its conference season.
“It’s really important, but we really don’t have any control over it,” South Salem coach Nick McWilliams said. “We played the toughest schedule we could over the preseason. That’s kind of holding us off a little bit, and the fact that West and McNary are highly ranked teams, that helps a lot.
“We could play a lot better, but we’re just not as consistent as I’d like to see. At times we look brilliant and at other times we let teams back in. Just trying to be more consistent.”
The Saxons led 20-6 early in the second quarter after Woodvine’s first basket of the game, but West Salem battled back and closed South Salem’s lead to 35-30 early in the third quarter.
But South Salem went on a 15-4 run – including eight points by Woodvine and five by Westbrook – to take a commanding 50-34 lead.
Westbrook has taken pride in getting more players involved in the offense this season.
It’s worked as Tori Swanson and Dani Harley have emerged as legitimate scoring threats every night.
“I think my job, especially as a point guard, is to make sure everyone is getting some love from the ball,” Westbrook said.
“I’m going to have my shots and have my points and everything, but as my job I want to make sure everyone is at least getting shots up, feeling confident, so when we play better teams everyone is not as nervous.”
But when Westbrook and Woodvine are combined they are a lethal duo.
Whether it be the back-door passes or the drive-and-kick passes, the all-state players work in perfect sync and lift South Salem to a higher level.
“I think we read each other really well,” Woodvine said. “We know our open looks. We know what one another does. She knows my moves, I know her moves.
“And just practice and chemistry between the both of us. The way we work and how hard we work on the court together. It’s like a little dynamic duo, a Lebron and Kyrie thing.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler
South Salem 62, West Salem 45
West Salem: Brenna Redman 15, Rabago 11, T. Gunesch 10, Markel 4, McCrae 3, Bain 2, R. Gunesch, Mumford. Totals 18 9-16 45.
South Salem: Jordan Woodvine 24, Westbrook 21, Swanson 6, Leaks 6, Harley 5, Hersh, Hicks, Huston, Winder. Totals 23 10-15 62.
|
WS |
6 |
20 |
12 |
7 |
— 45 |
|
SS |
18 |
17 |
19 |
8 |
— 62 |
3-point goals: South Salem 6 (Westbrook 3, Woodvine 2, Harley).
NOMINATIONS NEEDED
Do you know someone who should be nominated for the Statesman Journal’s fan voting awards to be announced during the Mid-Valley Sports Awards?
Courage Award: Recognize an athlete who exhibited leadership during difficult or sensitive times.
Heart and Desire Award: Nominees for this award are the ones who show up and give maximum effort and support the team, even if they are sitting on the sidelines.
Comeback Player Award: Honors an athlete who returned to competition from an injury or other situation that forced him or her to miss significant playing time.
Fan Experience Award: Recognizes the area’s most outstanding school sports environment, shining a spotlight on the bands, cheerleaders, dance squads and fans.
Let us know at MidValleySportsAwards.com. You can also buy tickets to the first Mid-Valley Sports Awards show on June 7 at the Salem Convention Center.