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Scrappy Salem delivers

SALEM — Unlike a year ago, when the Salem boys basketball team advanced to the Division 1 finals, it is not likely to be involved in many lopsided victories.

With little experience and even less size, it's just not possible.

But, if the Blue Devils can keep playing like they did Friday night in a 50-48 victory over Nashua South, they should pick up more than their share of wins.

And how did they play? They were scrappy, played good defense and showed surprising poise down the stretch when the game was in doubt.

"You don't have to be huge or super talented if you do the little things right," said Salem coach Rob McLaughlin, whose club improved to 3-2. "To be successful, we have to take charges, get the loose balls and play defense. I thought we did that tonight."

Indeed, although Salem starts no one over 6-foot-2 (and that's being generous), it held its own against a Nashua South team that had forwards that were 6-4 and 6-7 and it handled the ball much better than the Purple Panthers, forcing 22 turnovers to just 11 of its own.

It was defense that kept Salem in the game during an offenively challenged first half that had Nashua South leading 32-24 at the break. While South was shooting much better from the floor (13 of 22), the scoring gap would have been much greater if the Devils hadn't forced 11 turnovers.

The Salem defense really picked it up in the second half, limiting the Purple Panthers (2-4) to just seven field goals.

South did score the first five points of the third quarter to take a 37-24 lead, but the Devils started to claw back from that point, led by the one seasoned veteran on the team, guard Trevor DeMinico.

Deminico, the lone seasoned veteran on the team, had five of his game-high 14 points in the third quarter and also had a pair of assists.

"Teams are guarding me a little more this year but I like to distribute the ball anyway," said DeMinico.

A jumper at the buzzer by Tim Spampinato brought Salem to within four, 41-37, at the end of the third quarter and the comeback continued into the fourth. A driving basket by Michael Ference at the 5:19 mark gave Salem a 45-44 lead and it didn't trail again.

An offensive rebound basket by Alex Devir gave Salem a 47-44 lead and Salem controlled the clock much of the rest of the game, converting four of six free throws to seal the game.

Devir backed DeMinico with 13 points and junior Adan Ayala chipped in with 11. Ference, who didn't start the game because he was feeling ill, chipped in with five.

"I thought we showed a lot of composure at the end," said McLaughlin. "I was joking to my assistant that we might hold onto the ball the last two minutes we were moving it so well."

For Nashua South nifty guard Ivan Nyantenji had three 3-pointers and 11 points in the first half but Salem held him scoreless in the second half.

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