Sophie Gregory hits 1,000 point career milestone to lead West Branch past Salem, 40-34

SALEM — West Branch High School’s 6-2 All-Ohioan Sophie Gregory scored her 1,000th career point and the Warriors finished an unbeaten Eastern Buckeye Conference girls’ basketball season with a 40-34 win over arch-rival Salem in John A. Cabas Gymnasium here Wednesday night.

With the win, the AP’s Division II 10th-ranked Warriors who are also ranked No. 1 in the mahoningmatters.com Super Seven poll, improved their overall record to 16-2 and they wrapped up a perfect 10-0 Eastern Buckeye Conference championship season.

With the loss, Salem, which played the Warriors tough, fell to 7-11 overall and 3-7 in the EBC.

Gregory scored 23 points to lead West Branch

The 6-2 Gregory, a Youngstown State commit, had a terrific performance to take game-scoring honors with 23 points, while 6-1 teammate Olivia Showalter added 12 points.

Gregory made quick work to get to her 1,000th point. She scored 10 points in the first quarter against Salem and achieved the feat on a layup from the left side with 2:12 showing in the opening frame, giving the Warriors a 12-2 advantage. The game was stopped and Gregory was presented with a special game ball commemorating her 1,000th point.

“It’s a great experience, having all my friends here and the community is always behind us,” smiled Gregory. “It’s great.”

“She’s a very humble girl,” praised West Branch head coach Walt DeShields of Gregory. “Honestly, she wanted the win tonight versus points. She started out and got it over in that first quarter and that was really nice, although when the game stopped for her (award presentation) we didn’t play real well after that.”

Gregory, who missed much of last season with an injury, wasn’t sure reaching 1,000 points would be attainable after missing nearly a season of playing time.

“No, I didn’t think I was going to get it at all,” said the standout who has been unstoppable around the basket this season. “It was kind of a surprise when my parents and my coaches started telling me my countdown and it kind of just came to me as a surprise.”

“I’m kind of relieved it’s over,” added the Warrior standout who is a team-first player. “It was kind of nerve-wracking at the beginning, but now that it’s over, it feels good.”

Rylee Hutton scored 12 points to lead Salem

Leading Salem was senior standout Rylee Hutton with 12 points, while Reese Davidson Chuck finished with eight markers for the Quakers.

“The atmosphere (was great) for a high school girls’ basketball game,” said Salem head coach Tracy Miller. “The place was packed — I thought our girls fought to the very end.”

West Branch held first-half quarter-stop leads of 12-6 and 18-12, but fired-up Salem actually tied the game briefly in the third quarter at 20-20, following a layup by the Quakers’ Davidson-Chuck.

“As small as we are as a unit, to hold a team with two or three six-footers to 40 points, I was really proud of our defense tonight,” stated Miller.

West Branch answered with a 9-2 run to lead 29-22 after three quarters. The Quakers trimmed the deficit down to six points twice in the final quarter but the Warriors answered every Salem basket down the stretch to secure the 40-34 triumph.

“I give credit to Salem, they hung in there and kept battling and fighting and they started making shots in the second half and we just had to withstand it and pull out the win,” said DeShields. “We made just enough plays to do that.”

“I don’t think it was our best game, it’s always a tough game here at Salem but we got it done,” noted Gregory.

Although it was a challenging night shooting from the perimeter for West Branch, the one constant for the Warriors all season has been defense and the winners’ were excellent in that area once again.

“Our defense this year has pulled us through,” said the West Branch head coach. “Coming into this game we were giving up a little over 27 points-per-game and the school record is 30.9, so this team is really focused on playing great defense, especially on the road. And going 10-0 in the EBC is never easy, I don’t care who you are or what season it is, to run the table in the EBC is quite an honor.”

“That’s another great feeling, going 10-0 (in the league) in my senior year and beating Salem at their place — it’s a great feeling,” added Gregory.

“West Branch is very well coached by Walt and their girls play hard and our girls play hard,” stated Salem’s Miller. “It was a good high school game.”

West Branch also won the junior varsity contest by a 42-16 final. Alli Kanagy led the Warriors with 12 points.

What’s next for West Branch and Salem?

West Branch faces a strong challenge Saturday afternoon when the Warriors host Austintown Fitch (11-6) in the West Branch Fieldhouse.

Meanwhile, Salem is also back in action Saturday afternoon as the Quakers travel to Chardon to face Notre Dame Cathedral Latin in an independent contest.