Salem lady cagers notch
key road victory at Novi

BY ED WRIGHT
Jan. 12, 2010, 11 p.m.

  The significance of the Salem's girls basketball team's 43-35 victory at Novi Tuesday night may not be truly known for at least a month.

  But this much is certain: The Rocks have quickly established themselves as one of the teams to beat in the competitive KLAA Central Division.

  Powered by strong play from senior captains Sara Stone (19 points and 11 rebounds) and Brett de Bear (15 points, two assists), Salem recorded a victory that it will no doubt view as huge during next month's stretch run.

  "It's still early, but this was a critical win," said Salem coach Fred Thomann, whose team improved to 5-3 overall and 2-0 in the division. "They were the only team to beat us in the division last year, so it was a good win, especially since it was at their place.

  "The key for us tonight was balance. Even though Sara and Brett scored most of the points, a lot of players contributed and we played good team defense."

  Salem led 8-4 after one quarter and 21-13 at the break. It pushed its advantage to 31-21 with eight minutes to play and never allowed the Wildcats to rally thanks in large part to Stone's 10-point fourth quarter.

  Rounding out the scoring ledger for Salem were Heidi Schmidt (four points and three assists), Rachel Norman (three points) and Tabitha Mann, who netted two points and eight rebounds.

  Kesley Masseranti paced the Wildcats with 13 points. Caroline Johnson twined 10.

  Salem connected on 10 of 14 free throws. The Wildcats were 8 of 12 from the stripe.

  Novi slipped to 6-1 overall and 1-1 in the Central.