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Salem breezed past Merrimack 70-50. Mike Kimball had a big night, scoring 16 of his 23 points in the second half. Josh Frederico scored seven points and dished out nine assists and Alex LaRosa added eight points.

Beau Cassidy knocked home a short baseline jumper to give Pinkerton a 12-10 lead after a quarter.

The junior marksman's next hoop was a 20-foot, 3-point bomb. In between, defending Class L champion Salem High rolled off your text-book 23-0 barrage, covering nearly 11 minutes, including a scoreless second quarter. The Blue Devils weren't tested again, solidifying their spot at the top of the standings (12-0 in Class L) with an impressive, 69-48, romp over the Astros before about 500 fans at the Hackler Gymnasium.

Silence the rumor now, Kevin Sledge's favorite comedian is not Richard Pryor. It's Dave Chappelle.

It's an easy misunderstanding. Everything about Sledge's game on the basketball court is old-school | the quirky no-look passes, the menacing defense and especially that tired, vintage 1987 fake-the-pass-over the-defender's-head-and-pull-it-back play that amazingly works every time.

Exploding to a 17-point advantage after one quarter, Salem (5-0) glided to a 64-45 triumph over Nashua South. Josh Jones (game-high 21 points) provided the offense, Shawn Stoodley (eight rebounds) and Dan Kinney (10 boards) cleaned the glass, and Josh Federico (four steals) and Mike Kimball (five swipes) provided the defense.

It hasn't taken long for Friday nights to simmer on the local hoop scene.

A couple gigantic matchups in the region kick off the 2008 action tonight.

In New Hampshire, you won't find a bigger one that tonight's Londonderry at Salem collision, slated for 7 p.m.

Shawn Stoodley hauled in a whopping 20 rebounds to lead Salem over North Andover 59-46 in Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney consolation play.

The 6-3 senior, a second-team New Hampshire All-Division 1 defensive end in football, outmuscled and outhustled everybody on the glass. The Blue Devils needed his yeoman play as the Scarlet Knights, who had trailed by 17 early in the fourth, made a late run.

"The Gambler" and "Lucille" were officially deleted from Jason Jones' IPod.

Jones isn't too high on Kenny Rogers these days. Not after the aging crooner's rescheduled concert forced the Lowell Devils AHL hockey team to move their game from last night to tonight. That meant Jones couldn't watch his brother, Salem High basketball star Josh, play Trinity High last night in the rematch of last year's Class L championship game. "I've been mad all day," stewed Jason, a senior account executive for the Devils. "It's one of the biggest games of the season. That's tough for me."

2006-07 record: 23-2, Class L State Champion

Returning starters (1): Josh Jones, 6-3, Jr., guard

Returning lettermen: Dan Kinney, 6-4, Sr., center; Shawn Stoodley, 6-2, Sr., forward; Josh Frederico, 5-10, Sr., guard; Kevin Sledge, 6-0, Sr., guard; Mike Kimball, 6-1, Jr., guard; Mark Adamson, 6-4, Jr., forward; Sean Bergeron, 6-4, Jr., center