Boys hoop: Saugus’ balance beats Salem

Veterans Memorial Field House and its cavernous confines are always a challenge for teams visiting Salem to deal with. On Friday, a hot Saugus team came in and found the Witches home court to their liking.Led by 23 points and 14 rebounds by Selim Omorovic, one of three Sachems to finish in double figures, Saugus took a 70-63 win over the Witches.”They found the open man very well,” Salem coach Tommy Doyle said. “We couldn’t get the stops we needed.”The Sachems (6-3) ran out to an early lead before Salem (3-3) clawed back to lead 16-15 after a quarter. Saugus would fight back to lead 34-32 at halftime before pushing the lead to 53-45 at the end of three.Max Soto added 17 points and nine boards for Saugus while Joe Bertrand had 11 points and 14 rebound and Curtis Casella added 12.Salem got 18 points from Marvin Baez and 15 by Christian Dunston in the loss.Classical 59,Marblehead 46At Classical, Uche Nwokeji had 16 points to pace a trio of Rams (4-3, 3-2 NEC North) in double figures as they cruised past the Magicians.Eraldo Custodio had 14 and Derek Edmonds finished with 13 for Classical. Marblehead was led by a game high 17 points from Phil Coughlin and 16 by Jeff Peres.Arl. Cath. 72, St. Mary’s 60At Conigliaro Gymnasium in Lynn, the Spartans (6-3, 2-1 Catholic Central/Large) led by three after a quarter but saw the visitors put up 21 second period points to take the lead for keeps.Randolf Thurman was outstanding for St. Mary’s in the loss, finishing with 19 poinhts. Nick Gagliolo had 13 and Devin Thompson chipped in 10 for the Spartans.Winthrop 61, Peabody 57At Peabody, Quinton Dale turned in a triple double for the 6-2 Vikings, finishing with 24 points, 14 rebounds and 12 blocks as his team had to hold off a late charge from the Tanners.”Peabody never quit and made a good run at the end,” Winthrop coach Dave Brown said.The Vikings led 34-19 at half and 45-34 after three quarters. Peabody was led by 18 points from Jason Hiou and 16 by Steve Girolamo.Beverly 77, Swampscott 54At Beverly, the Panthers (5-3, 4-2 NEC North) got a double-double from Tyler Suggs, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds, to cruise past the visitors. Chris Keaton chipped in 15 points and Avon Jones finished with 11 for Beverly.Revere 64,Gloucester 58 (OT)At Revere, Dom Boyce’s 3-point play with 1.2 seconds left in regulation tied it for the Patriots (3-5), who pulled away in overtime.Tommy Sor led Revere with 22 points while Boyce finished with 15.Fenwick 68, Austin Prep 37At Reading, the Crusaders put together a complete game as Fran Hannon had 15 points and 12 rebounds in his first career start. Ben Maxner added 12 points and eight boards for Fenwick.Chelsea 61, Tech 33At Chelsea, a close game at the half turned into a rout as the Red Devils handled the visiting Tigers (1-7). Mike Duarte scored a team high 17 points for Tech but a second half defensive collapse proved too much.St. John’s 90,Malden Cath. 49At St. John’s in Danvers, The Prep (6-1) jumped out to a 58-24 lead at the half, and coasted to victory, three days after suffering its first loss of the season.”We didn’t like the way we competed (against BC High Tuesday)” coach Sean Connolly said. “The kids really came out and got after it.”Steve Haladyna led all scorers with 20, with Freddy Shove (16), Owen Marchetti (11), Mike Carbone (13) and Drex Costello (11) all hitting in double figures.