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Sherry scores 32 as Danvers dumps Salem

Saturday, January, 19 By Jean DePlacido
Correspondent

Danielle Sherry is only eight points away from reaching the coveted 1,000-point mark after pumping in 32 in Danvers' 65-38 win over Salem last night.

Sherry was explosive all night, hitting three unanswered shots to key a 21-0 run by the Falcons in the first quarter after the Witches went up, 6-0 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Karly Henderson and Ashley White to start the game.

"Danielle poses so many problems because she's dangerous inside and outside," said Salem High coach John Fortunato. "You have to limit the touches a shooter like her has, and we didn't do that."

Salem hit three treys in the first quarter to account for all nine points, and trailed by a dozen. But the Witches put together a solid second quarter, outscoring Danvers, 19-8 to get right back in the game. Freshman Amanda Wilkins hit a pair of foul shots in the closing seconds of the half to cut the deficit to 29-28 at intermission.

"It was like we switched jerseys after the first quarter," said Danvers coach Pat Veilleux, his team now 7-4. "I think we put together our best quarter of the year, running and gunning, but then we got tired. Salem is a good team | much better than their record (3-9). We knew if Henderson and White got going with those outside shots they would be hard to stop so we rotated a lot of different players on them."

The Falcons got several big performances, including 13 rebounds and three blocks from freshman Kellie Macdonald. Senior Cate DiNitto added seven boards as they dominated the glass at both ends of the court.

At the start of the third quarter Danvers went on an 11-1 run to regain control of the game and built up an 18-point cushion heading into the final frame. Sherry scored seven points in a row for her team and had a dozen in the quarter. "I felt good tonight, and the shots were falling," said Sherry. "We got a little too comfortable right before halftime, and they got back in the game. But we knew what we had to do and came out and did it. This was a big win for us."

Louiginna Rijo, who hit some key inside hoops, was the only player for the Witches in double figures with 10. Henderson added eight and White had seven.

"We had a nice run to get back in it, but this team has really struggled with discipline all year," said Fortunato. "We need to concentrate on playing disciplined basketball one possession at a time over the full 32 minutes. We can't just rely on the three's, and have to realize what is a good three and what is a bad one. Against a team like Danvers if you put up a bad three with a long rebound, they are off to the races. They do a great job running the floor, and are a very tough team to defend.

"They came out so strong in the third period, and it is tough to play catch up all night. We talk about not letting down, and we had some good moments, but let it get way out of hand in the second half. Right now Danvers is more experienced and disciplined than we are."

Nine different players contributed to the scoring for the Falcons with Ashley Burnham and Bailey Potter both putting in eight points. Veilleux pointed out this was a total team effort.

"Everybody had a great game," Veilleux said. "The last three weeks we have really stressed getting the ball inside, and were able to do that all night. Macdonald had a tremendous game, and she's only a freshman."