Spartans start slow, finish with a flourish for state championship 

RICHMOND ­— Salem boys basketball coach Kevin Garst wore a gray shirt.

His players sported white uniforms.

They won gold.

Completing a stunning season that began with eight losses in the first 12 games including an 0-2 start in the River Ridge District, Salem reached the top Saturday night with a 56-48 victory over Grafton in the Group AA Division 4 championship game at VCU’s Siegel Center.

“I don’t think these guys know what has hit them yet,” Garst said. “This is something they will remember for the rest of their lives.”

The win gave Salem (19-10) its third state title since 1994 and sent Grafton (28-3) back to Yorktown with its second Division 4 runner-up effort in the last two seasons.

Salem also became the first Virginia school since 2007 to have its boys and girls basketball teams win a state championship in the same season. Salem’s girls won the Division 4 title over Courtland two hours prior to the boys’ celebration.

The Spartans deserved the party as senior Matt Hill scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Alex Light had 14 points and 14 boards.

“I don’t know what to say, I’m speechless,” Hill said.

Salem authored an improbable ending to a season that seemed doomed when the team started the season 4-8 including losses to Blacksburg and Cave Spring in the first two district games.

Salem also got off to a slow start in Saturday’s championship game as Grafton scored the first nine points.

However, that deficit proved to be a mere hurdle as the Spartans grabbed the lead for good late in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by John Repass.

“Congratulations to Salem,” Grafton coach Jeremy Jordan said. “Aside from that first three minutes, I thought they outplayed us pretty much the rest of the game.”

Salem held a narrow 33-31 lead late in the third quarter before Hill completed a three-point play after an inbounds pass, and followed that with a low-post move on the first possession of the fourth quarter for a 38-31 Spartans lead.

“They ran an inbound play, we didn’t really communicate on it and Hill got an ‘and-one,’” Jordan said. “There were some pivotal possessions where we needed to get stops and be a little bit smarter on the offensive end.

“In a game like this, against a quality team like this, if you don’t make those plays in an opportune time, little things like that come back to bite you.”

Hill, who was Salem’s football quarterback, scored the Spartans’ final bucket when he reversed roles and hauled in a long inbounds pass from DeVonte Joyce for a layup and a 44-33 lead with 3:29 to play.

The Spartans iced the win from the foul line as Hill, Light and Will Pratt each hit a pair.

Salem’s victory completed a three-game state tournament run that included a quarterfinal win over Heritage and a 54-40 semifinal win over Potomac Falls.

The Spartans were assessed a technical foul prior to the semifinal game for wearing gray uniforms in violation of a national federation rule that requires the designated “home” team to wear white.

Garst, a member of Salem’s 1994 championship team coached by Charlie Morgan, was the only Spartan wearing gray as the team donned white JV uniforms .

All that mattered to Salem’s players were the gold VHSL medals they took home at the end of a day that saw four Timesland basketball teams win a state title at VCU.

Troy Mann scored 11 points and played the entire 32 minutes along with Hill. Joyce played 21 minutes and had a team-high four assists without committing a turnover. Reserve Shawn McDaniel gave Salem its first lead of the game in the second quarter when Light sat down with two fouls.

The 300-pound Light was massive throughout the postseason for Salem with a pair of double-doubles in the state tournament. Salem outrebounded Grafton 34-27.

“I thought Alex Light and Matt Hill were both huge tonight,” Jordan said.

Forward Elijah Moore led Grafton with 21 points.

Ultimately, Salem held the trophy.

“Everyone early in the season was talking about how we were overrated, but they don’t have one of those,” Hill said.

GRAFTON (28-3)

Sperling 1-3 1-2 3, McMillan 1-8 4-7 6, Miller 2-8 0-2 5, E. Moore 8-18 2-5 21, Santiago 5-10 0-0 11, Nichols 0-0 0-0 0, Jessup 1-2 0-0 2, I. Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Mazgajewski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 7-16 48.

SALEM (22-8)

Mann 2-8 6-9 11, Hill 7-10 6-7 20, Repass 2-6 0-0 6, Pratt 0-1 3-4 3, Light 6-9 2-4 14, Joyce 0-3 0-0 0, McDaniel 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 18-40 17-24 56.

Grafton 16 5 10 17—48

Salem 10 15 11 20—56

3-point-goals — Grafton 5-22 (E. Moore 3-9, Miller 1-5, Santiago 1-4, McMillan 0-3, Jessup 0-1), Salem 3-12 (Repass 2-6, Mann 1-4, Pratt 0-1, McDaniel 0-1). Rebounds — Grafton 27 (E. Moore 7), Salem 34 (Light 14). Assists — Grafton 9 (McMillan, Miller 3), Salem 10 (Joyce 4). Total fouls — Grafton 18, Salem 17. Fouled out — Sperling, McMillan, Hill.

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