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Salem beats Memorial, advances to quarterfinals

Friday, March, 07 By Peter A. Martin
Staff writer

Salem easily passed its first test on the road to repeating at New Hampshire Class L champions, dropping Manchester Memorial 60-42 last night.

"We got out to an excellent start and then made sure we took care of business," said Salem coach E.J. Perry, whose team is now 40-1 in the last two years of Class L action.

The Blue Devils will try to make that 41-1 when they take on No. 8 Pinkerton in the quarterfinals Sunday at UNH at 1:30 p.m.

Salem had a 9-6 lead with 5:35 to go in the first quarter when sweet shooting left-hander Josh Jones hit a 3-pointer that sparked a 16-0 Blue Devil run to close the quarter up 25-6. Jones missed almost eight minutes of the first half with a cut over his eye but still managed to lead the team with 19 points thanks to some hot shooting to open the second quarter.

The most impressive part about the Blue Devils' early dominance is that they did it without two of their key players. In addition to Jones' injury, Shawn Stoodley picked up two quick fouls and missed most of the first half.

"We were able to get (Mark) Adamson and (Alex) LaRosa some big minutes," said Perry whose Blue Devils moved to 19-0 in Class L and 21-1 overall. "That should be very valuable as we progress through the tournament."

LaRosa, a sophomore point guard, had six points, hitting both his shots, a pair of 3-pointers. Adamson, a 6-4 junior, added four points and six rebounds.

Adamson also figured in Salem's stellar interior defense. Stoodley, Adamson and senior captain Dan Kinney combined for eight blocks.

Fan support was also a big part of the win. As a promotion the team gave away blue shirts emblazoned "Salem Blue Devils 2007 State Champions" to the first 400 students through the door.

The students were very vocal, several had painted their faces blue and white, while one carried a "D-Fence" sign. The energy and excitement they brought to the floor carried through to the players.

"The fans are amazing and they supported us all year," said Perry. "They packed the house tonight and that is really special for our players, we just hope they do it this weekend at UNH."

Salem beat the Astros 69-48 on Feb. 8 and 70-55 in the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney fifth-place game, but the Blue Devils know they will have to be ready.

"Pinkerton is a good team," said Perry, "we will have to execute and try to build a lead early on in the game. I know it will be a very emotional game, with two cross-town rivals involved."