Salem squeaks past Lady Tigers in semifinals

CABOOL – The Houston Lady Tigers rallied to pull even from a double-digit deficit against Salem. But they never could take the lead.

After senior Kylee Elmore’s long 3-pointer tied the game at 54-all with three minutes remaining, Salem scored eight unanswered points and held off another rally attempt to beat HHS 66-62 Thursday in the semifinals of the Lady Bulldog Invitational.

No. 3 Salem will play top-seeded Dora in Saturday’s 5 p.m. championship game. Houston (1-1) faces Willow Springs at 3:30 p.m. in the third-place game.

The Lady Tigers, who trailed by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, were down eight with less than five minutes left in the game when they made their move. Elmore buried a triple with 3:59 remaining to cut the deficit to three and completely erased it with a 3-pointer a few feet behind the arc with 2:50 left.

But Salem got an offensive putback on its next possession to regain the lead and after a timeout, played a box-and-one against Elmore. The move worked as Houston went over two minutes without a point as Salem built a 62-54 lead.

Houston didn’t go down easily, though.

Shelby Cremer hit a triple from the top of the key and after the ensuing inbounds pass, Elmore stole the ball and was fouled. She made both free throws to make it 62-59 with 32 seconds left.

After both teams traded free throws, Elmore had an offensive stickback to pull Houston within two points at 64-62 with 20 seconds remaining. But Salem put the game away with a long pass and layup to break the Lady Tigers’ fullcourt pressure. 

Elmore hit four 3-pointers en route to a team-best 26 points. Sarah Kelley scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half.

Savannah Hanning led Salem with 28 points. Payton Curley was 6-for-6 at the foul line in the fourth quarter and finished with 10 points.

BOX SCORE

HOUSTON (62) – Kylee Elmore 26. Shelby Cremer 3. Abby Casper 2. Stephani Crewse 1. Makayla Koch 5. Sarah Kelley 20. Emily Shea 4. FG 23. FT 10-17. (3-pointers: Elmore 4, Cremer).