Blair Oaks Heads Back to the Championship Game with a 66-31 Victory Over Salem

Blair Oaks soars past Salem to earn a spot in the Championship for a second year in a row.

January 23, 2026

The #5 ranked team in Class 4 wasted no time taking control. Blair Oaks jumped on top of Salem 22-12 in the opening quarter with 6 players getting on the scoreboard led by 6’4” Sr guard Hudson Moyer with 8. 

Blair Oaks kept it up in the 2nd half but this time it was 6’5” Sr forward Bennett Wilde who stepped up for the Falcons. Wilde demonstrated his versatility by stepping out and hitting 2 three pointers on his way to a 10 point second quarter. The Falcons cruised into halftime with a 41-23 lead. 

An overwhelming 3rd quarter where Blair Oaks outscored Salem 20-5 put the game out of reach, allowing Blair Oaks to clear their bench and play the 4th quarter with the turbo clock. Salem was only able to muster 8 points in the 2nd half led by Jr guard Tyson Connors who came off the bench and knocked down 2 -3’s in the second half. 

Junior guard Ryan Cunninghame finished with a team high 10 points for Salem with 2 from behind the arc and going  4-4 from the FT line. Senior guard Braiden Gapsch finished with 7 points, all in the first half. 

For the Falcons Moyer led the balanced attack with 16 points and Wilde went for 14 points. In all, 8 players scored for the Falcons.

STATS Blair Oaks 66, Salem 31

The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):

Blair Oaks (12-1): Hoffman 4-0-10, Boessen 0-1-1, Wilde 5-2-14, Closser 1-0-3, Jackson 3-0-6, Moyer 8-0-16, Rackers 4-0-8, Dapkus 4-0-8

Salem (11-6): Cunningham 2-4-10, Thomas 2-0-4, Conners 2-0-6, Gapsch 2-1-7, Sapaugh 2-0-4

The score by periods:

TEAM Q1   Q2   Q3   Q4   F

Blair Oaks   22 19 20 5 66

Salem 12 11 5 3 31

St. James Tournament Results

Final Tourney Match-Ups - Friday the 23rd at St. James Middle School

Consolation at 3:30pm - Waynesville vs Steelville

3rd Place at 5:00pm - Salem vs St. James

Championship at 6:30pm - Blair Oaks vs Rolla

First Round Tourney Results - Monday the 19th

#1 Blair Oaks - Bye

#5 Salem upsets #4 Waynesville, 53-50

#2 Rolla defeats #7 Cuba, 67-27

#3 St. James defeats #6 Steelville 69-35

Semifinal Results - Thursday the 22nd

Steelville defeats Cuba, 45-43

Blair Oaks over Salem, 66 -31

Rolla handles St. James, 64-51