Third quarter proves fatal for Classical boys hoop

LYNN – Perhaps the most pivotal quarter of any basketball game is the third.Both teams are coming off a 10-minute rest after a furious first half, and look to gain any slight edge of momentum over the other squad.That’s what happened last night, as Salem took advantage of Classical mistakes and missed shots in the early moments of that third period, outscoring the Rams 22-10, and using it to hold on to take a 75-68 win at Classical High School.Both squads entered the half tied at 37 (with Classical’s Shaddai Pena netting a three-point field goal with 30 seconds remaining for that halftime tie).The teams traded baskets in the early minutes of the third, before the Witches embarked on an 18-5 tear. Salem’s Dario Medrano put the Witches ahead to stay with a short jumper and a 41-39 edge.After a Classical miss, Witches guard Antonio Reyes (the game’s high scorer with 22) went coast-to-coast for a layup. Another Salem hoop put the Rams behind by six, before Classical’s Nick Grassa cut the deficit in half with a three-pointer midway through the quarter.Yet Salem continued to take advantage of Rams miscues to increase its lead. After a Christian Dunstan hoop, Classical’s Keith Nance missed a short jumper, and forward Brad Skeffington connected on the hoop off the transition to put the Witches up, 49-42.Soon after, Grassa had his pocket picked by guard Raphy Medrano in the Classical end, and went in for the layup to push the Rams behind by nine. Nance hit a jumper after a pair of Salem free throws, but the Witches (14-2) got hoops by Reyes and Dunstan to open up a 57-44 lead with just over a minute remaining in the quarter.”That was the difference in the game,” said Rams coach Tom Grassa, who saw his team drop to 12-6, about the third. “We were 1-for-9 from the field in the first three minutes, and their fullcourt defense combined with our cold shooting and poor transition on defense was the key.”Salem coach Tom Doyle explained what happened during the half. “We changed our defensive plan, and it helped us. Our defense, and their misses (from the field) gave us control of the game.”The Witches continued to widen their lead in the fourth stanza, building a 16-point edge (67-51) more than two minutes in), and holding a 71-56 advantage with more than three minutes remaining. Yet the Rams went on a 7-0 run, with guard Moise Builou netting five of those points, to bring the squad to within 71-63 with 2:23 to go. After a Reyes hoop increased the lead back to ten, Pena drilled a three-pointer, and Grassa (Classical’s leading scorer with 21) hit a jumper to bring the Rams to within 73-68 with 18 remaining. Yet Reyes sank a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.Having trailed by 12 (16-4, courtesy of a quartet of three-pointers) just more than three minutes into the contest, the Rams slowly crawled back into the game, eventually taking the lead for the last time (34-33 with 1:44 remaining in the half. Grassa was fouled when he tied the score on a layup, and his freebie put Classical on top. Dunstan hit a pair of buckets, before Pena’s halftime-tying three.