Underdog Rocks inspired community with anything-is-possible run
Opponents had zero answers for how to stop Salem junior Madison Morson this season.
There’s a verse in Sia’s song “Unstoppable” that sums up the second half of the Salem girls basketball team’s season: I’m unstoppable, I’m a Porsche with no brakes. I’m invincible, yeah, I win every game. I’m so powerful, I don’t need batteries to play. I’m so confident, yeah, I’m unstoppable today.
After winning 19 of their previous 20 games, the Rocks were stopped Friday afternoon in Michigan State’s Breslin Center by defending Class A state champion West Bloomfield, 78-53, but not before they sent some serious chills down the spines of everyone who paid attention to their journey to East Lansing.
And, after all, it’s the journey that we remember the longest, not the destination.
Hold your heads high, ladies — you are role models to so many people who now know it’s possible to defy the odds and slay the Goliaths, regardless of how little confidence everybody outside of your locker room had in you.
What a turnaround!
After winning just two games two seasons ago and starting this year 2-5, the Rocks rocked the Michigan high school basketball world, knocking off highly-touted Wayne, winning a loaded regional and outlasting a very good Riverview team in Tuesday night’s quarterfinal.
Despite their incredibly talented opponent on Friday — many think the Sailors are among the nation’s best girls hoops teams — the Rocks never quit. Down 28 at one point in the third quarter, they kept their foot on the gas pedal and outscored West Bloomfield’s starters (who didn’t check out until 68 seconds remained in the game) by 12 to chisel the deficit down to 62-46.
The Sailors have the best team in the state, but Salem has the best player: Madison Morson, a junior who on several occasions Friday dribbled through West Bloomfield’s defense like a knife through butter.
Morson finished with 31 points (Shahd Bakkar also sparkled with 15 points for Salem) despite not sitting out a second and often attracting triple-teams.
Invincible to the end
She was, as Sia says, invincible.
Salem Head Coach Rod Wells and his assistants are basketball geniuses. They figured out ways to optimize Morson’s immense talent while bringing out the best in the supporting cast, especially Bakkar, who showed amazing poise during the team’s late-season surge.
During their unforgettable run, the unstoppable Rocks were cruising like a Porsche with no brakes.
Sometimes you just run out of gas.
Thanks for taking a community along for an amazing ride.
