LOWELL — Following a three-point attempt by Hanover in the waning moments, Salem High basketball captain Nate Lane was fouled with his team leading by four points and just 4.1 seconds left in the game clock.
That was it; the game was all but over. The Witches were about to win their first state basketball championship in 31 years, and junior superstar Elian Rodriguez, hovering near midcourt as Lane readied to take his free throws, looked towards the skies and started to tear up.
“I just thought about my (late) father Juan and how I wish he was here to see me do this. I know he’d be so proud of me,” said Rodriguez, who poured in 27 points as Salem defeated top seeded Hanover, 57-51, before a raucous crowd at Tsongas Center Saturday night.
“I wish he could’ve been up there in the stands with the rest of my family,” continued Rodriguez, tearing up again. “I did this for him.”
Salem, which finished the season 24-2, did what it set out to do long before the 2025-26 campaign officially started: Win the school’s fourth boys basketball crown in school history — and the first team state title of any kind since the Witches’ football team captured a Super Bowl in 1999 — and also beat the same Hanover team that knocked them out of the playoffs a year ago.
“This was payback,” said junior guard Matt Kenney, who coolly drilled two free throws with 16.4 seconds to play to give the Witches a 55-51 lead. “We didn’t want to experience that same feeling of losing again to those guys.”
Longtime head coach Tommy Doyle, who coached his 500th career game at his alma mater Saturday (career record: 365-135), was thanked by seemingly every person who lives in the Witch City after the game. Doyle now has a state title with Salem as a player (1990) and head coach.
“For these boys to do this, it’s just spectacular,” said Doyle. “I can’t believe the amount of work they put in from last year to this year to make sure the moment didn’t end the same way as a year ago.
“They had a mission, they took me along on the mission, and I am so happy to be a part of this group.”
Tied after one quarter, the second seeded Witches (24-2) exploded in the eight minutes before halftime, scoring 23 points and holding Hanover to just 10 to take a 39-26 lead at the break. The Hawks made a big push to get within four (46-42) entering the final quarter and cut it to two (51-49) with 2:48 to go.
But the ever-cool Rodriguez drew a double team before dishing a backdoor pass to Kenney, who cut towards the lane and scored on a layup to increase Salem’s lead to four. Kenney was fouled on the play and missed the free throw, but the Witches got the rebound and ate more time off the clock.
A lay-in by Hanover big man Ryan Mutschler (22 points) again made it a 2-point game, but those were the last points for the Hawks.
Hanover (23-2) had possession in their own end following a Salem miss with 22.1 seconds left and called time out to set up the potential tying or go-ahead shot. But Witches senior Cesar Mesa Castillo — in a season where the Witches prided themselves on aggressive team defense — made the play of the year by stealing the inbounds pass and getting it to Kenney before the latter was fouled.
“I knew (Mutschler) was their guy on the inbounds, and me and Elian were fronting him,” said Castillo, who finished with five points. “I saw him make a twitch and knew we had a few fouls to give, so I took a chance. I’m a pretty good defender and it benefited there.
“I got the steal … and the rest is history.”
After Kenney drained his two freebies (“I worked too hard this season to miss two free throws. You realize you make two and you’re going home as a state champion, so I did”), Hanover’s three-point attempt went off the rim and Lane got it, fouled with mere seconds to go. He, too, calmly drained both of his chances from the stripe.
“It’s all you think about as a kid, making up scenarios in your head: it’s the state championship, there’s three seconds left, a couple of free throws to win it … I literally got to live our my dreams and made it come true,” said Lane.
Rodriguez, who shared a long, heartfelt hug with his girlfriend, Salem High cheerleader (and volleyball star) Yanalis Ventura, during the postgame celebration, finished with 135 points in Salem’s five postseason contests, all victories. He had 16 of his 27 points Saturday in the first half, including 12 in the opening quarter.
“I told my guys beforehand, ‘Treat this like a regular game and take the first shot that’s there’,” said Rodriguez. “I had hot hand early and was in the groove, and it seemed like every shot went in.”
When he wasn’t scoring, Rodriguez was dishing the ball off to open teammates after drawing double teams his way. Lane, freshman center Cleto Deng (7 points and a big presence in the paint), Kenney and Mesa Castillo all benefitted.
“The whole tournament, he stepped up,” Doyle said of Rodriguez, who will take 1,377 career points into his senior season next winter. “(Hanover) was scoring every time down it seemed like in that first quarter, but Elian punched them right back, and then other guys stepped up. It was a complete team victory.”
Doyle, who got the share in this championship victory with his two sons, assistant coaches Ethan and Jack (the latter of whom pushed back a flight to Florida to join the Salem State baseball team so he could be with the Witches Saturday night), said there was “nothing better than that feeling.”
He also shares something with his 2025-26 Salem Witches: being members of a state championship team.
“Someone asked me earlier (Saturday) if I was ready for it to end either way, and I said no. This is really the first time I haven’t been ready for it to end, because I want to go to practice with them tomorrow, I want to be with them tomorrow,” he said.
“But now we have a forever bond and will be tied together for the rest of our lives.”
Salem 57, Hanover 51
Division 3 state championship
at the Tsongas Center, Lowell
Salem;16;23;7;11;57
Hanover;10;6;16;9;51
Individual scoring
SALEM: Matt Kenney 2-2-6, Nate Lane 4-2-12, Cesar Mesa Castillo 2-0-5, Cleto Deng 3-1-7, Elian Rodriguez 11-1-27, Sean Murphy 0-0-0. Totals 22-6-57.
HANOVER: Bradley Peterson 2-3-8, Sebastian Brown 3-1-8, Cole Madden 5-0-13, Sam Light 0-0-0, Ryan Mutschler 8-6-22, Kellan Balducci 0-0-0, Liam Chiappini 0-0-0. Totals 18-10-51.
Three-pointers: S, Rodriguez 4, Lane 2, Mesa Castillo; H, Madden 3, Peterson, Brown.
Records: S, 24-2; H, 23-2.