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SALEM, N.H. — As far as making a statement, Salem couldn’t have made a louder one than it did in the first quarter of last night’s 77-50 blowout of Timberlane in their Class L first-round matchup.
Josh Jones drilled a 3-pointer to start an eight-minute pasting that ended with No. 2-seed Salem ahead by a stunning 31-6. For one quarter, they looked more like the Blue Devils from Duke than the Blue Devils from Salem.
In that first quarter:
— With Mike Kimball nailing three 3-pointers, Salem finished with five trifectas and was 10 of 15 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.
— In addition to shooting long balls, Mark Adamson got loose underneath and drove at will for nine points.
— Salem’s defense forced seven Timberlane turnovers and blocked seven shots.
“We wanted to make a statement,” said Jones, who led Salem with 19 points. “They said in the paper that they could play with us, and we wanted to show that we’re the defending champions and we can be the best team in the state again.”
Added Kimball: “People were shooting us down a little. We wanted to let everyone know that we’re coming on strong.”
It didn’t help Timberlane that it was playing its first tournament game, against a two-time defending champion, in five years.
“They’re a very, very good team and we hadn’t been in this situation in a long time,” said Cardone. “We were nervous and it showed. And it seemed like they couldn’t miss.”
Timberlane settled down a little in the second quarter, but its deficit was even larger at halftime, 54-23. By that time, Salem (16-3) already had three players (Kimball with 15 of his 17 points, Jones with 14 and Alex LaRosa with 10 of his 15) in double figures.
As the teams got ready for the second half, the Salem student section started yelling “it’s all over, it’s all over,” and it was hard to dispute the chant, even with 16 minutes left to play.
When head coach E.J. Perry cleared the bench with six minutes left to play in the fourth quarter, Salem was ahead by 40 points, 72-32.
Salem will now host No. 7-seed Bishop Guertin in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Saturday. Guertin, which fell at home to Salem by only five points back in January, whipped Dover last night, 81-67.
If there was one bright light for the Owls (6-13), it was the play of senior Erik Hatton. Despite often seeing double teams, he ended his career in style, scoring 17 points in the first half and finishing with a game-high 25 points. He also pulled down 10 rebounds.
“If he doesn’t make all-state, it’ll be a travesty,” said Cardone. “Erik has had a great year.”
Taylor Vondrasek came on strong against the Salem reserves to finish with 10 points.

Despite 22 points from Erik Hatton, Timberlane fell to Dover 70-58. Hatton led all scorers and also chipped in with a strong defensive effort for the Owls, who fell to 6-13.

Josh Jones' 22 points led Salem to a 74-41 cruise past Timberlane. Jones buried four three-pointers in the process and the long range shooting was contageous as the Blue Devils buried eight from beyond tha ace. Alex LaRosa (16 points) have two 3-pointers. The Blue Devils have won 11 of 12.

Riley Cassidy hit all nine of his free throws in the last 90 seconds as Timberlane squeaked past Exeter 60-54. Cassidy also hit three 3-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points. Erik Hatton also came up big for the Owls with 16 points.

Taylor Vondrasek was the star as Timerlane pulled a bit closer to a playoff berth in Class L New Hampshire with a 62-43 win over Goffstown. Vondrasek exploded for 27 points and also had five steals.

Londonderry's Matt Sanborn lit up the scoreboard from long range six times, helping Londonderry to a 63-34 win over Timberlane Sanborn netted a game-best 20 points.

Multi-sport standout Erik Hatton was flawless from the charity stripe, hitting all 15 of his attempts en route to a 27-point night. Hatton also added 11 boards in Timberlane's 70-58 win over Concord. Aaron Judson played his best game of the season with 8 points (two 3-pointers) and 6 rebounds.

Trailing by four with five seconds to go in overtime, Riley Cassidy nailed a 3-pointer to pull Timberlane to within one, but the Owls were unable to get the timeout they were attempting to call and ultimately lost to Nashua South, 63-62. Cassidy finished with 14 points (three 3-pointers), and Erik Hatton scored a team-high 21.

Riley Cassidy, who stands at 5-foot-8, finished with 7 rebounds, 9 points and 7 assists in the Timberlane boys basketball team's 60-58 win over Keene. Erik Hatton had a big night with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Riley Cassidy scored 10 points and hit several big shots late to pace Timberlane in a 59-53 win over Merrimack.