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The "interim" tag is no longer part of Mike Trovato's title.

That became official last week when Trovato was hired as the permanent Haverhill High head boys basketball coach. He was one of only two candidates, the other being former Whittier head coach and Haverhill assistant Larry Snow.

It may seem hard to be upbeat after completing a 3-17 record, which is the worst for Haverhill High in at least 25 years, but first-year coach Mike Trovato is doing the best he can.

With only two seniors graduating, he believes much better days lie ahead, perhaps as early as next year.

Junior Lugo and the Salem boys basketball squad didn't cool off a bit yesterday against Haverhill. The senior scored a team-high 15 points as the Witches cruised by the Hillies 70-42.

"It was a close game after one, and we really turned the pressure up in the second quarter," said Salem coach Tom Doyle. "We were able to get a ton of steals, and that turned the tide."

Haverhill's Trovato admits to being a little shell-shocked after Friday night's 68-67 "loss" in overtime to Lawrence High. The first-year Hillies coach was burned by calling a timeout too many, one he said he was told he had by somebody at the scorer's table at Lawrence High.

Recently-installed Haverhill High coach Mike Trovato spotted Javier Bristol at the first "open-gym" session he saw at Haverhill High this fall.

Long and lean with springs for legs, the 6-3 Bristol was raw but talented. He also was headed for his second straight season without organized ball.

The similarities between Haverhill and Timberlane were striking, and it made for a fun finale for this year's Greater Haverhill Coca-Cola Christmas Hoop Classic.

Both teams feature youthful rosters where height is at a premium, trading instead in pressure defense in order to cultivate easy fast-break baskets. The Hillies (Michael Trovato) and the Owls (Paul Cardone) even have first-year head coaches.

Haverhill's athleticism was on display as the Hillies downed Newburyport 69-39 in the Haverhill Coca-Cola Tourney second round last night.

Haverhill will face Timberlane, which beat Pentucket last evening, in the final tomorrow at 6 p.m.

Andover used a halfcourt trap to move out to an early lead on its way to a season-opening 69-56 victory at Haverhill. Zach Burdeau paced the Warriors with 17 points, two more than Tristan Shannon. Ismael Rios led a Haverhill balanced attack with 10 points.

Frankly, it could be a long winter for the Haverhill girls and boys basketball teams. The talent pool is limited and the numbers are way down. When you only have 45 boys out on all levels and 35 girls, there is a serious problem.

The Haverhill High boys basketball team hasn't played a game yet but, in my mind, new coach Mike Trovato suffered what may have been the team's biggest loss prior to the first day of practice.

At some point before that time, senior Mike Ford decided not to go out for basketball and opted for indoor track instead. The 6-foot-3 forward was probably the team's steadiest player last year, averaging 9.8 points and about eight rebounds per game.