RallyNorth.net

Salem's Sledge the super sub

Friday, January, 18 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

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.

Salem High's spark-plug sixth-man continues to yield major dividends for the Class L-leading Blue Devils, now 9-1 overall and a perfect 7-0 in New Hampshire action.

A huge, yet underrated cog in the Blue Devils' 2007 state title run, Sledge earned his battle stripes in the big games with a stirring Class L tournament.

The scrappy senior was back at it again on Tuesday night with Salem in deep, deep trouble | its 16-game Class L win streak in jeopardy at Dover High.

"They didn't miss and things weren't going well," said Sledge

Salem was trailing 61-56 with 28.8 seconds to go, top scorer Josh Jones had fouled out and No. 2 man Mike Kimball was struggling.

Enter Sledge, who nailed a three-pointer, his ninth of the year, to cut the margin to 61-59 with 17.7 seconds left. Sledge couldn't save Salem all alone, though, and teammate Dan Kinney was the man on the spot, stealing a long Dover pass with 11 seconds left to set up the final wild sequence. In a timeout, coach E.J. Perry set up a play for Kimball with Sledge the No. 2 option. Dover collapsed on Kimball, who calmly located Sledge, lurking behind the arc. Money.

Sledge's second triple, coming with three seconds left, gave the Devils the stunning win.

"I've never hit two bigger threes," said Sledge, who had five trifecta all last year. "I made a point to work on my shooting this summer and it's really paid off."

Perry can't say enough about his sensational sixth man and all the intangibles he's delivered. The long-range bombs are simply icing.

"Sledge gives us just what we're looking for with his energy off the bench," said Perry. "He plays hard, does all the little things and keeps us going when we need it most."

An athletic halfback on the Salem football team, Sledge, who scored 17 TDs in the fall, is more of the cerebral assassin in hoop.

"I've been playing for a while, so its just stuff you pick up," said Sledge, who is currently looking at prep schools for next year. "Sometimes my athleticism comes into play, but on the court it's more trying to think ahead of time and what the opposition might do."