Correspondent photo / Anthony Fiuza. West Branch’s Michael Kanagy attempts a layup with Salem’s Cade Rohm draped over him.

BELOIT — Defense ruled the night and West Branch’s boys basketball team put on a clinic in a 50-25 Eastern Buckeye Conference win over rival Salem before a large crowd in the West Branch Fieldhouse Tuesday night.

“The good part is we can bring that defense every night,” West Branch head coach Michael Brown said. “That’s what’s allowed us to win (EBC) championships is our defense. We gave up 41 points per game last year and it’s starting to trend in that direction again.”

With the win, the Warriors, who were playing their first game in two weeks due to a COVID quarantine, raised their perfect mark to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the EBC.

With the setback, Salem is 2-5 overall and 1-2 in EBC play.

“It’s just frustrating,” Salem head coach Jeff Andres said. “I’ve never been as frustrated with our squad. Our guard play needs to improve — there’s no doubt there, but they just kicked our butt.”

West Branch won the game within the game as the Warriors used their quickness to offset Salem’s height advantage. The Warriors forced 22 turnovers and won many of the 50-50 balls. By comparison, West Branch finished with just seven turnovers.

“When you give up (an average) of 40 points per game in boys basketball you’re giving yourself a really good chance to win — whether you shoot the ball well or don’t shoot the ball well that night,” Brown said. “One of the things we had on the board was to win every 50-50 ball and play with active hands.”

West Branch senior guard Jaxon Hendershott hit a three-pointer, his second of the night, with 1:39 left, giving the Warriors a 49-24 lead, and with it, Hendershott became the school’s all-time career three-point record-holder. Hendershott now had 117 treys and broke the previous school record of 116 held by Reese Leone (now playing at Westminster).

“It (breaking the record) felt good,” said Hendershott. “I knew going into this game I only needed two threes to break it. I was just kind of focusing on the game when it (his record trey) happened. But I hit that three and I heard everybody scream pretty loud. It was a great feeling.”

“Congrats to (Jaxon),” said Brown. “His effort and time in the offseason is what got him (to this point.”

West Branch featured a balanced scoring attack, led by 6-4 junior Dru DeShields with a game-high 15 points, while Hendershott added eight, 6-4 junior center Mitch Coffee added seven markers, freshman point guard Joey Jackson also added seven and senior guard Nick Wilson finished with six points.

“We held in there, I think they had 15 (points) at the end of the half and they banked in a three or otherwise it would have been 12,” said Brown. “It was good to see us play well defensively because some of these guys were off for 10 days (due to COVID quarantine) so we’re trying to get back in shape and get the continuity back and I really thought we powered through that first half and we saw some (offensive) rhythm in the second half.”

Salem was never able to settle into any offensive rhythm as West Branch denied the taller Quakers inside. Salem’s 6-6 senior sharpshooter Drew Weir led the Quakers with nine points and was held scoreless in the second half by the blanketing West Branch defense. Weir fouled out of the contest with 3:01 remaining in the fourth quarter. Guard Ross Davidson added five points for Salem.

West Branch got outstanding play from its talented freshman point guard Joey Jackson, who in his first varsity start, handled Salem’s pressure defense like a seasoned veteran.

“It feels amazing with all the fans here,” said Jackson. “Beating our rival, Salem, I have to thank my team. I take the most pride in my defense because when I started playing varsity, coach (Brown) made me focus on my defense.”

Salem played Tuesday’s game without 6-4 senior Jon Null who does so much for the Quakers.

“We miss him (Null), we played pretty well without him against South Range the other night, but we still have guys that have played and guys to step up,” Andres said. “This was a rival game and we’re coming off a game we felt pretty good about in South Range and they (the Warriors) were on a layoff and they were fresh tonight and we weren’t.”