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No. 1 Salem finds some energy, staves off Astros

Monday, March, 10 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

Salem sharpshooter Josh Jones wasn't expecting a cakewalk yesterday afternoon and Pinkerton made sure the Blue Devils didn't get one.

The No. 1-seed Blue Devils (22-1, 20-0 in Class L) struggled until the final two minutes before pulling away for a 56-47 victory over the stubborn No. 8-seed Astros. They'll face No. 4 Manchester Central in the Class L semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at UNH's Lundholm Gym.

"It's a playoff game, everyone's shooting for us and trying to knock us off. ... We came here expecting a fight and we got one," said Jones, who led defending champion Salem with 16 hard-earned points.

Salem coach E.J. Perry also wasn't surprised that the game was close until the final moments.

"We do have four new starters this year and there's a different feel on this floor," said Perry. "And the game wasn't going the way we wanted it to."

Indeed, Pinkerton wanted to contain Salem's quickness and fast break and it did that well through the first half, which ended with Salem nursing a low-scoring 20-18 lead.

"We wanted to keep them in a half-court game and keep them from running," said Pinkerton coach Peter Rosinski. "We were able to do that and control the tempo until late in the game when we got in foul trouble."

At halftime, Perry underlined the need for a faster pace. "We certainly didn't want to be at 20 at halftime," said Perry. "I thought we could have transitioned a little better."

Two things worked in Salem's favor in the third quarter. Pinkerton point guard Colby Verge picked up his fourth foul with 3:03 remaining in the period and top Salem reserve Kevin Sledge (9 points on the game) took advantage of his absence.

With Salem ahead 34-29 when Verge went to the bench, Sledge hit a free throw, connected on his second 3-pointer of the game, picked up a loose ball and then assisted on a Dan Kinney basket underneath. Suddenly, it was 40-31 for Salem.

"It helped having Verge off the floor, because he's their leader," said Perry. "At that point, we needed some energy and Sledge gave it to us."

Which was no surprise to Jones.

"Kevin is always a spark for us," said Jones. "I think he's the best sixth man in the state."

Still, led by Beau Cassidy (16 points, nine in the fourth quarter), Pinkerton rallied to get back into the game. Trailing 42-33, the Astros went on a 9-2 run to close to within two, 44-42.

But Salem point guard Josh Frederico drove for his first basket of the game, making it 46-42, and | with Verge and Ben Proulx fouling out in the final three minutes | Salem was able to pull away.

"That really hurt us when we had to take Colby off the floor," said Rosinski. "It's hard to control the tempo without your point guard.

"But we're really pleased with the way we hung in there, and we're excited about next year."

As well the Astros should, with guards Cassidy and Verge both returning as well as improving 6-foot-6 sophomore Zach Mathieu, who had nine points and a game-high 14 rebounds, and 6-4 classmate Ben Proulx (7 points, 4 rebounds).

Salem, meanwhile, will try to continue its second-half momentum into the semifinals. In the fourth quarter, Mike Kimball had five of his 12 points, and Shawn Stoodley had four of his team-high 12 rebounds. Also, Kinney (8 points) had two key free throws.

"Hopefully, we'll be a little more relaxed Wednesday," said Perry, whose club beat Manchester Central 63-47 on Feb. 23.