Salem hoops team finishes sunny side up in dramatic win at Northville
Salem senior Nye Turner works in the paint against Northville’s Brody Grezak.
In terms of raining points, Salem’s basketball team resembled a monsoon during a 22-point second quarter outburst Tuesday night at Northville — and a drought throughout a four-point third quarter.
When the sun finally set on the Rocks’ thrilling match-up with the Mustangs, they weathered the storms, 46-41.
Salem improved to 12-4 overall and 5-4 in the KLAA West Division. Northville slipped to 3-14 and 1-9, respectively.
Tie-breaking slam
Among the key buckets in Tuesday’s thriller was Salem senior Nye Turner’s put-back dunk that broke a 39-all deadlock with just over three minutes to play.
(To check a video of Turner’s dunk, click here.)
Northville answered seconds later when Nate Isiah Imbuzeiro scored to re-tie the contest, but the Rocks scored the final five points to secure the W.
“I saw my teammate (Luke Creighton) take a great shot and I thought it was going in,” Turner said, recounting his slam. “When the shot didn’t go in and the ball bounced off the rim, I got up there and put it down. This was definitely a big win for us because it puts us up there in the division.”
Debut dunk a hit
Salem Head Coach Ryan Nimmerguth said he and his team have witnessed Turner slam dunks in practice, but never in a game until Tuesday night.
“Nye said he was just waiting for the right opportunity,” Nimmerguth said, “and that was definitely the right opportunity. He just made a play at a big point in the game.
“Nye is a very athletic kid. When he plays like that, it makes our team that much stronger.”
In addition to his highlight-reel put-back, Turner scored Salem’s next basket to give it the lead for good — and he contributed a diving hustle play in the final minute that gave Salem possession near Northville’s basket.
‘Stangs start fast
The Mustangs bolted to a 17-7 first-quarter lead thanks in large part to sophomore Samuel Siddall, who scored seven points in the first five minutes.
The Rocks bounced back by outscoring their hosts 22-7 in the second quarter behind six points from Liam Reynolds — two coming on a dunk of his own — and five points a piece from Landen Stone and Darrel Williams.
Taking advantage of Salem’s four-point third quarter, Northville earned a 34-33 leading heading into the fourth quarter as Nate Isiah Imbuzeiro and Brody Grezak combined for nine of the Mustangs’ points in the quarter.
“I thought we ran our offense well in the third quarter, the ball just wasn’t dropping for us,” Nimmerguth said. “We had a few point-blank misses.
“Credit to our guys, though, because they never got frustrated and they didn’t start forcing shots. They stayed patient and stuck to the game plan.”
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
