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Seniors Reed Grubbs (tenacious defense) and Daniel Nugent (6 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) had big Senior Night games as Salem dumped Keene 51-38. Junior Matt Vartanian had a double-double with 23 and 10 boards.

Salem's basketball team continued its late surge for the state tournament, winning its third straight, 69-55 at Alvirne the Blue Devils fell behind 17-6 but dominated the next two quarters. Jared Gott had four 3-pointers and 24 points to lead the way while Matt Vartanian added 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Trailing by 12 early in the third, Salem turned to Jared Gott (27 points, 6 3's) and Kenny Calabrese (9 points, 6 assists) and they delivered in a 64-57 win over Pembroke.

Jared Gott took a pass in the corner and sunk a 3-pointer with eight seconds left on the clock to give Salem a 55-52 victory over Winnacunnet. Matt Vartanian added 17 points and nine rebounds for the winners.

Cody Ball scored 14 of Londonderry's 30 second-quarter points, and he finished with 30 points on the night as the Lancers rolled past Salem 80-52. That matched Ball's season-high for points.

Sophomore D.J. Coletti hit five 3-pointers and scored 15 points (both career highs) but Salem couldn't get three shots late to fall and Exeter prevailed 63-61. Matt Vartanian scored 18 points and Griffin Curtis for the Devils.

NORTH ANDOVER —  Salem 6-5 junior forward Matt Vartanian summed up his team’s subpar performance against Watertown on Saturday perfectly.

“We finally had a good run at pressing the other team, and we haven’t been able to do that in a while but our halfcourt defense was awful and we couldn’t finish at the hoop,” Vartanian said. “Not much positive.” 

Junior Jared Gott had six 3-pointers and poured in 27 points, including 15 in a 25-point third quarter, as Salem opened its season with a 67-59 victory over Nashua North. Matt Bartanian added 16 points and 12 rebounds.