Wednesday night provided teams across Virginia another opportunity to punch their tickets to the state tournament, including Salem girls basketball and E.C. Glass boys basketball.
Salem’s Bailey Rider made sure to leave little doubt, as her 21 points led the Spartans to a 70-23 win. The win now returns Salem to their third straight state tournament appearance.
“I’m really excited and just thinking about last year, I want to take it to the next level and get a ring this season,” said senior forward Emme Custer who added 15 points. “I’ll do whatever it takes and I’m so glad my team’s here. We’ve worked so hard and I’m just really proud of everybody.”
“Relief of pressure because you know if you lose you’re still in it, but it’s a huge game because if we win we get to play at home another time so it’s a huge game. We got to stay locked in,” added senior guard Gabby Crawley.
The Spartans are slated to take on Charlottesville on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Salem for what will be the third installment of this championship matchup.
As for E.C. Glass, they remained perfect, adding a 70-55 win over GW Danville to their resume.
The Hilltoppers used perimeter shooting to their advantage in the win, which has been a theme throughout the season.
The next test for the Hilltoppers comes against Handley on Friday.