RallyNorth.net

Stoodley, Salem roll

Wednesday, February, 20 By Mike McMahon
Staff writer

SALEM, N.H. | When the dirty work needs to get done, Salem head basketball coach E.J. Perry turns to Shawn Stoodley to take care of business. And, that's just how the 6-foot-2 center likes it.

Pulling down a game-high 19 rebounds to go along with his team-high 18 points, Stoodley powered Salem to a 72-59 victory over Winnacunnet to bring the Blue Devils to a perfect 16-0 Class L record, and their 26th straight Class L win.

"I'm more proud of the rebounds," said Stoodley after Salem clinched its second straight regular-season title. "The points are nice, but they'll come and go. We have plenty of guys on the floor that can score points, I'm out there to play down low, and pull down rebounds."

The win, combined with Trinity's loss at Exeter, guarantees Salem the top seed in the Class L tournament.

"It feels awesome," said Stoodley. "Obviously we want to take it one game at a time, but it feels good to get the job done. The goal at the start of the season was to get to the tournament, we've done that, but we aren't looking beyond the next game. Once the tournament starts, if we lose our next game, we're done, so we just focus on the next one all the time."

Stoodley looked like a man among boys, repeatedly powering his way over, and through Winnacunnet.

He was on the floor every minute until the final seconds of the game, when he came out to an ovation from the crowd at Davis Gym.

"I call him a man-child," Perry said. "He goes out there every night trying to prove that he is one of the premiere big men around, and he does it night in, and night out. It's great that he had 18 points tonight, but I look at his rebounds, and he really was great for us down low. I know he had 19 boards, and I know he was a little ticked off that he didn't get the 20th, but he went after it and it shows the type of competitor he is."

Senior guard Josh Frederico (9 points) runs the Blue Devils' offense, while Stoodley, a co-captain with fellow senior Dan Kinney, runs the defense. It was the Blue Devils' relentless full court press which gave Winnacunnet fits, especially early in the game. In all, the Blue Devils forced four turnovers off inbounds from the press.

"He's our point guard when the other team has the ball," said Perry. "He gets our guys moving, and he did that tonight. They made some changes in the second half and were having success and it forced us to scramble a little bit. Stoodley is out there, always in control on defense."

Josh Jones knocked down a jumper from the left wing to give Salem the lead inside of the first 10 seconds. The Blue Devils went on a 13-4 run to open the game, and never trailed.

Sophomore Harry Knowles scored eight of his 22 points in the opening minutes of the third quarter as the Warriors cut the lead to 41-36. But, the defending Class L champion Blue Devils, led by the sharpshooting of junior Michael Kimball (11 points) and the post play of Stoodley and Kinney, closed out the third on a 9-2 run.

"They changed up some things on defense that really got us off track a bit in the second half," Perry said. "They changed up their defenses and we attacked them, but we could have done a better job, which we'll get to. The win solidifies the top seed, which is good, but it's not something we're thinking about, not yet."