LAFAYETTE – Salmen set two first-half records and couldn’t overcome poor shooting as O. Perry Walker moved into Friday’s Class 4A final with a 58-45 win.

The Chargers will play against the winner of the Cox-Carroll game on Friday at 8 p.m.

Salmen set a 4A record with fewest points in a quarter with 3 in the first, then followed that up by setting an all-classifications record for fewest points in a half with 7.

Those aren’t records you need to set to move into the finals.

Not that the Chargers (34-7) were shooting the basketball any better in the first half. But they hit enough shots to move on the state tournament, finishing the game hitting half their shots.

“18-7 at halftime, we felt like we should have been up six or so at that point,” Salmen head coach Jay Carlin said.

It’s no wonder then that head coach Brian Gibson was barking at his players during an early second quarter timeout.

“They shoot extremely well,” Gibson said. “We were lucky today because they didn’t shoot well early. We knew if we let our guard down, they could get back into this game.”

And that’s exactly what Salmen did.

Despite the Spartans’ poor shooting, Salmen (31-4) cut the Walker’s lead to six with 3:55 to play in the game.

The 3-pointer played the equalizer in the run. Salmen hit four trey’s in fewer than three minutes to take a one-time 34-22 Walker lead to 40-36.

But the Chargers broke out an 8-2 run, and Salmen never challenged again.

First Demond Dedeaux hit a 3-pointer. Then, in the full-court press, Aristotle Stalks picked up a steal and got the ball to Charles Hammork for a layup.

After Salmen’s Kyle Burkett missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Walker’s Colby Carr was fouled on the rebound. He went down and made both of his free throws.

Again the Spartans came up empty on offense, and this time, Hammork banked in a 6-footer to give Walker a nearly insurmountable 48-36 lead.

Salmen never cut the lead to single digits again.

“When we got it to 40-36, we felt like we had a chance to maybe steal the game,” Carlin said. “Next thing you know, they couple of turnovers and it’s 44-36.”

Said Gibson, “It showed our maturity. We could have wilted, but we didn’t. Dedeaux has hit those shots on many occasions this year.”

Dedeaux finished with 17 points.

Despite poor shooting in the first half, neither team wilted.

It helped Salmen that Hammork got into early foul trouble and had to sit on the bench so he didn’t pick up his third foul. However, in his place stepped Carr, who finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.

“I had to step up,” Carr said. “I had to rebound more than I did when he was in the game. I had to play big. He’s our leading scorer.”

Salmen shot 11.8 percent in the first half, making only two shots.

“Disappointing performance in the first half,” Carlin said. “Felt like we were better than that. We just couldn’t get the ball to go down in the first half.”