By CHRISSY SMITH
Slidell Sports Editor
SLIDELL — The Salmen Spartans shot 4-of-31 from behind the three-point line in a 60-53 loss on Tuesday to Brother Martin at home.
Salmen, which played without Dwayne Williams, was three-of-nine from the three-point line in the first quarter, which helped the home team to be tied 15-15 at the end of the first period.
The Salmen defense had the task of guarding Tennessee commit Jordan Cornis, who finished the game with 26 points. However, 15 of his points came in the first half.
Brother Martin took the lead in the second quarter with 7:11 to go, and Salmen head coach Jay Carlin called a time out. But on Salmen’s first possession out of the time out, Cornish stole a pass and scored on a fast break layup. Carlin called a time out again.
The Brother Martin defense made it tough for Salmen to get many easy baskets, and the Spartans went 0-for-8 from behind the arc.
The Crusaders led 33-22 at the half.
Carlin and his team spent the entire halftime in the locker room, and walked back out with just seconds to go before the third period started. Salmen had readjusted its game plan, and was now getting the ball inside to Cody Rudolph, who finished the game with 17 points. However, forced passes caused several turnovers, which did not help in Salmen’s attempt to rally back.
“We played poorly. We had open looks in the first half, but missed our shots. We didn’t play well or smart,”?Carlin said.
The Spartans are now 13-5 overall, while Brother Martin is 14-4.
Cameron Vickers, Matt Thomas and Jordan Pitts each scored eight points for Salmen while Chris Vickers scored four and had three blocks.
Salmen will hit the court again on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Warren Easton. District play then begins on Jan. 21 against Lakeshore.