RallyNorth.net

Bergeron fills void in Salem win

Thursday, February, 19 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

SALEM, N.H. - If the numbers meant anything, Exeter High might have rode out of Salem with a Class L upset win.

The hot-shooting Blue Hawks nailed nine 3-pointers in a hostile gym.

On the other end, they held Salem's Big Three (Josh Jones, Mike Kimball and Alex LaRosa ... combined average 46.3 ppg.)to just 24 points total.

No numbers or preparation could account for the breakout night of Salem's Sean Bergeron. The 6-foot-4 senior delivered 14 of his career-best 18 points in the second-half as the Blue Devils clawed out of a hole that was as deep as eight to pin a 51-49 loss on Exeter.

With the victory, Salem moved to 11-3 in Class L play right in the heart of a six-team stretch drive for the crucial top four playoff spots.

"You have to win games like this, especially on your home floor," said Bergeron.

Salem's urgency was fueled by the big fella's work off the glass in the third (three second-chance hoops) and a put-up or shut-up team defensive effort.

"Look at the score, we were down 40-32 with a minute to go in the third quarter," said coach E.J. Perry. "I just said, we're going man to man the rest of the night. To make a good team, you have to be able to do that. For nine minutes, we just got after it."

Bergeron, who hit the final hoop of the period on a rebound, got some nifty help from his classmate Kimball in the fourth.

On three successive trips, Kimball drew the coverage and hit a cutting Bergeron with a no-look assist for layups.

"I grew up with him, it seems like we've been doing that our whole lives," said Bergeron of his uncanny, silent connection with Kimball. "That made things easy."

Still, this one went to the wire.

LaRosa gave Salem its first lead of the night (42-40) with a 15-footer from the baseline at the 5:40 mark.
The teams knotted again at 47-47, setting up Kimball's fourth assist of the quarter - yes again to Bergeron - for the lead with just over a minute left.

LaRosa (14 points) made two foul shots, but a pair of Salem misses gave Exeter, down 51-49, one final life.
Fittingly, it was Bergeron with the last word.

As the buzzer sounded, he swatted away Exeter's desperate three-point attempt to seal the win.

"It was one we had to have," said Perry. "If we can get this every night (from Bergeron) we can be dangerous, because now we have an inside presence. He went after a pretty good one (Exeter's Alex Blomeke) and they banged all night. And you saw what Berg' ended up with. That's what we needed from him."