SALEM — Sometimes it’s just not your night.
Unfortunately for the Salem High boys hoop team, that night came at an inopportune time in the second round of the Division 3 state tournament.
Hosting No. 10 seed Hanover Tuesday evening in front of a packed house, the seventh-seeded Witches hung tough for the first two quarters to give themselves a puncher’s chance against a lengthy and athletic opponent. But it all fell apart in the third quarter and Salem was never able to recover in a season-ending 59-35 defeat.
“We couldn’t score the ball and therefore we couldn’t get into our defenses,” admitted Salem (17-5) coach Tom Doyle. “They did a nice job defensively and offensively, and it was just really a tough night on both ends for us.”
Trailing by two (12-10) after one quarter, it appeared to be a matchup Salem was more than capable of winning. The Witches then briefly took the lead in the second quarter, but a momentum-swinging play in the final seconds before halftime flipped the script in Hanover’s favor.
On the bench for much of that second quarter with three fouls, Doyle opted to put sophomore star Elian Rodriguez (13 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and a block) back in for one final offensive possession before the break. It seemed to pay off as Rodriguez blew by his man off the dribble and got to the rim, only to watch his layup attempt spill out.
Hanover grabbed the rebound and quickly outlet it up the floor, streaking for an uncontested layup to beat the halftime buzzer. The quick four-point swing gave the visitors a 25-20 edge at the break — a lead they’d never relinquish.
In many ways, that unfortunate sequence was emblematic of how the game panned out down the stretch.
“They got a lot of fast break points, which was certainly something we had talked about pre-game, that we didn’t execute tonight,” said Doyle, who admitted that last-second bucket from Hanover was a backbreaker. “They played a good basketball game; they got some nice players, they executed very well offensively and we definitely missed some assignments.”
In that opening half, Rodriguez was able to get going a bit before battling the foul trouble. He poured in nine points before recess to help keep his team within striking distance. After the break, however, neither he nor his teammates were able to find the stroke.
Hanover opted to put their tallest starter, Ryan Mutschler (12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks) on Rodriguez, and he came up with a couple of big swats on the perimeter. When Rodriguez, Nate Lane (10 points 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) or others were able to penetrate, Hanover’s interior defense stood tall and came up with some key blocks. In total, Hanover swatted nine shots.
Those unquestionably sparked its offense. Senior guard Tyler Vincent (9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks) set the table beautifully all night, dishing out a game-high 10 assists — many of which were backdoor dimes to cutting teammates or dribble penetration kickouts to the open shooter.
The Hawks would hit a couple of killer threes in that decisive third quarter while holding Salem to just nine points as they built a 47-29 advantage heading for home.
“There’s no question,” Doyle said when asked if Hanover’s length and athleticism bothered his team.
Sebastian Brown (16 points, 8 rebounds) added three blocks as well for the visitors.
Salem never quit, with Lane splashing a second half three, Canei McLeod (6 points, 5 boards, 2 steals) getting a few shots to fall in the paint, and Rocco Ryan scrapping on defense. But the Witches never got closer than 12 down the stretch.
The Hawks had three different players reach double figures and also won the rebounding battle, 31-25 — although it felt like even more than that due to the amount of blocks and transition opportunities they generated.
It was Salem’s worst offensive output of the season (its previous low point total was 41 in a late December loss against Beverly), and undoubtedly a tough way to go out. The Witches shot just 24 percent from the field and were 2-for-27 from three — well below their impressive season averages.
“We knew they were a good team, we scouted them, watched four films on them and had a good feel for them,” said Doyle. “Exactly what we knew was coming came, and they did it better than us tonight.
“(But) if you were to tell me (we’d have) 17 wins at the beginning of the season, I would’ve definitely thought that was a high goal for us,” Doyle added. “They worked extremely hard, they overachieved and they supported each other. We had different guys step up all year long and it’s just a tremendous 15 kids, from 1-to-15. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this year.”
Hanover 59, Salem 35
Division 3 state tournament, Round of 16
at Salem High School
Hanover 12 13 22 12 59 Salem 10 10 9 6 35 Individual statistics Hanover — Thomas Gorbey 7-2-16, Sebastian Brown 7-0-16, Tyler Vincent 3-2-9, Robert Antonetti 1-0-2, Ryan Mutschler 4-3-12, Cooper Horner 2-0-4. Totals: 24-7-59. Salem — Nate Lane 3-2-10, Rocco Ryan 2-0-4, Josh Giaff Hodge 1-0-2, Canei McLeod 3-0-6, Elian Rodriguez 5-3-13, Larell Carpenter 0-0-0, Matt Kenney 0-0-0, Sean Murphy 0-0-0. Totals: 14-5-35. Halftime: 25-20, Hanover
3-Pointers: H, Brown 2, Vincent, Mutschler; S, Lane 2.
Records: S, 17-5; H, 14-10
Contact Nick Giannino at NGiannino@Salemnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGiannino_SN.