RallyNorth.net

Sat, Mar 14, 2009 07:00 PM @ Salem

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Bishop Guertin	17	18	12	14	61
Salem	29	18	22	13	82

Sizzling Salem steamrolls Guertin

Saturday, March, 14 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

SALEM, N.H. - Salem High coach E.J. Perry lined the walls from the home locker-room to the the Davis Gym for his team with signs, highlighting the road to the 2009 state championship.

Once his Blue Devils found their home floor, they certainly took care of business.

Setting the tone with their best offensive quarter of the season, No. 2 Salem routed seventh-seeded Bishop Guertin of Nashua,82-61, in last night's Class L quarterfinals.

Wednesday night (6 p.m.), the quest for a Blue Devils' three-peat rolls up to Durham for the Class L semis. At 6 p.m., Salem faces the winner of Winnacunnet and Memorial.

Just how good were the Blue Devils out of the box?

Josh Jones came out smoking, nailing four or four threes.

Alex LaRosa hit all four shots he took, three of those from behind the arc.

And Mike Kimball exploded for six quick points of his own.

The result was a 28-17 lead after one, and it wasn't that close.

"Last time on the court for us, the seniors wanted to go out on top," said Kimball, the senior captain who finished with a game-high 25. "When we share the basketball like that, we play amazing. And we've been clicking lately."

The passing was crisp and unselfish. The points kept coming.

 Salem shot 18 for 30 from the field in the half, 29 of 55 for the game and B.G. never closed it to single digits.

"Once we drive and kick it, it's wide open," said Jones, whose first and only miss of the night finally came with 2:13 left in the third quarter."We just came out on fire and took it to him."

Perry had no problem looking for leadership and production from all three of his captains.

Kimball finished the night early, as the others did, hitting 10 of 20 from the floor with seven assists and six steals.

Jones' 23 came on a frugal 7 of 8 shooting, and he worked the glass for seven boards.

All of LaRosa's 15 came before halftime, as did his six assists.

Defensively, the Blue Devils threw just about everything at Guertin, a team that took Salem to overtime in the regular season.

Perry mixed zone traps in with man-to-man, and found exceptional success with a halfcourt matchup that took its toll on the Guertin inside game.

Now the Devils find themselves two wins away from a three-peat, something that has only happened three times in the history of this tournament.

"That would be amazing," said Kimball. "And that's what we're looking for."