RallyNorth.net

Wed, Feb 20, 2008 05:00 PM @ Salem (MA)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Swampscott	23	21	8	8	60
Salem (MA)	23	23	29	10	85

Salem buries Big Blue with 16 treys

Thursday, February, 21 By Mike Grenier
Staff writer

Swampscott High coach Paul Moran must have thought Salem was going to set the world record for 3-pointers against his team last night.

The Witches shot trifectas at a dizzying pace, making an improbable 16 of them in thumping the Big Blue, 85-60, in the regular season finale for both state tournament-bound teams.

In what could be the understatement of the season, you might say that Salem has a bit of momentum heading into the Division 1 North Tournament. The Witches won their last seven games to go to 15-5. They'll also be entering the postseason coming off their most brilliant shooting performance of the year.

"Salem shot the ball extremely well," said Moran, whose team closed out the regular season 13-7. "That wasn't a very good effort on our part. We didn't come to play. When you don't come to play against Salem, you're in big trouble."

It didn't matter whether Swampscott played zone or man | the Big Blue were always a step or two late on the defensive end. For the most part, the Witches took smart, wide open 3-pointers and they were extremely efficient at it, burying 16 of 24 from international waters. Salem's previous high this season was 10 treys against Revere.

Senior guard Junior Lugo led the 3-point barrage, making seven of them en route to a game-high 29 points. Sophomore Bryan Ortiz (18 points) and senior Beau Theriault (16) each had four 3-pointers, and senior guard Chris Maxson had one trifecta and 10 assists.

"I liked feeding my guys," Maxson said with a big grin. The opening half was played at a racehorse pace and Swampscott was right there, trailing just 46-44 at the break. John Beaulieu had all 11 of his points in the first half for the Big Blue and Scott Leffler, who is a workhorse in the paint, had nine of his 17.

But Salem accelerated the game to breakneck speed in the third quarter, when it connected for seven 3-pointers and outscored Swampscott, 29-8, to take a commanding lead, 75-52. The Witches opened the period with five consecutive 3-pointers, including two apiece by Lugo and Ortiz and one by Theriault.

Salem coach Tommy Doyle wasn't about to shrug off such a spectacular offensive showing, but he was more impressed with Salem's defensive approach in the second half.

"We gave up way too many points in the first half," said Doyle. "We stressed defense in the second half and held Swampscott to 16 points.

"Basically, this game was about team confidence as we get ready for the state tournament," he added. "We shot those threes in the flow of the game. We've had a good run at the end of the season with seven straight wins and that's what you want to see at this time of year."

Overall, Salem is a far different team than it was at the beginning of the season, when it lost its first three games.

"I just talked to the kids about that," said Doyle, who has only one 6-footer, Chris Dunston, in the starting lineup. "If someone told me before the season that we'd end up 15-5 after starting 0-3, I would've been really happy about that. These kids have come a long way."

As they demonstrated last night, they can also shoot from a long way.