RallyNorth.net

Fri, Feb 08, 2008 07:00 PM @ Salem (MA)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Lynn Classical	13	20	20	15	68
Salem (MA)	13	18	19	20	70

Byors breaks through in Salem's narrow victory

Friday, February, 08 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

When Salem forward Chris Dunston got into second half foul trouble, Tommy Doyle needed to find a solution.

The Witches are undersized to begin with, but going small against a Lynn Classical team that features a pair of athletic big men in Jarrell Byrd and Tony Johnson just wasn't an option. So Doyle, on a hunch, went with 5-foot-11 widebody Danny Byors, hoping the junior could provide a little rebounding and toughness in the post.

Byors provided all that and then some with a 13-point second half to lead the Witches to a 70-68 victory at home.

"Dunston got into foul trouble and we tried a little experiment. It worked, so we stuck with it," Doyle said. "Byors hasn't been playing many minutes all year. He got his time tonight and really shined. He did a great job at both ends for us."

Byors helped Salem eliminate an eight-point deficit in the second half, and made the two biggest plays of the night less than six seconds apart.

With Salem trailing by one (68-67) and the clock ticking down below 10 seconds, Byors caught the ball in the post with Byrd on his back. One power dribble to his right and Byors began looking for an open teammate. When no one got open on the perimeter, Byors head-faked and hit a spinning layup for the lead.

"I was trying to call timeout because I thought it was getting close to three seconds," Doyle admitted. "But he made a great shot."

Byors found it strange to have the ball in his hands with the game on the line. Even he wasn't sure what he was going to do.

"I had no clue," Byors said. "I heard Antonio (Reyes) yelling 'shoot'. So that's what I did."

The hoop, which gave Salem a 69-68 lead, wasn't the end of Byors' heroics. Classical inbounded and pushed the ball up the court trying to get the game-winner going to the basket. But Byors stepped in front of Cameron Smith to take the charge, which ended the Rams' night and their chance for a Northeastern Conference title.

Classical's loss combined with Lynn English's one-point win over Peabody last night gave the Bulldogs the crown.

Salem, meanwhile, can't win the title, but after starting 0-3 the Witches feel good about being 11-5. It's safe to say they're a much better team now.

"I like to think so," Doyle said. "I like to think the kids have improved, and they're playing hard and together. It's been fun to be part of the process of improving."

Salem is getting contributions from all over now. Aside from Byors and his 13 points, Chris Maxson finished with 15, freshman guard Antonio Reyes had 14, and Junior Lugo added 13.

Byrd led Classical with 21 points, Jasper Grassa contributed 17, and Luis Ayala had 10.

"This win was important as far as beating a good team and trying to make a run now to go 15-5," Doyle said. "We want to get the best possible seed we can (for the Division 1 North tournament), so it was a huge game going into our home stretch."