Danvers dashes Saugus’ hopes in D3 North final

LOWELL – It was just two years ago that the Danvers basketball team was mired in the basement of the Northeastern Conference. Then came the hiring of John Walsh to be the Falcons’ coach, and what has ensued is nothing short of amazing.The Falcons were a semifinalist in Division 3 North a year ago and on Saturday at the Tsongas Center, Danvers reached the top of the mountain.Led by 20 points and 14 rebounds from George Merry, the Falcons used their defense to pull away in the fourth quarter from NEC South rival Saugus to take a 53-40 win and earn a trip to TD Garden today (4:30) for the EMass final.Click here for a photo gallery.It was a drastic change from the two regular-season games the clubs played, won by a combined 72 points by Danvers. The Sachems were very much in the game until being held scoreless for the final 6:43 of the game.”We knew it was going to be a battle,” Walsh said. “Saugus had won seven in a row and had beaten some of the teams we didn’t. I am very proud of the kids. They’ve played hard all year.”The Sachems did enough on defense to have a shot at winning, but they never could get into an offensive rhythm despite getting 17 points from Curtis Casella. Selim Omerovic had 10 but was saddled with foul trouble for much of the second half.”I was happy with the job we did defensively but we struggled on offense and I take responsibility for that,” Saugus coach Paul Moran said. “We changed a lot of things and it didn’t work out.”It was clear early that this wasn’t going to be a game of the blowout variety as the Sachems led for much of the first quarter before Danvers cut a five-point lead to one after a period.The teams continued to go back and forth in the second before Merry and the Falcons began to take a little bit of control on the defensive end. The 6-7 senior scored eight of his 20 points in the second quarter, which the Falcons closed on a 12-4 run to take a 30-25 lead at the break.”George was huge for us,” Walsh said. “He played very well when we needed him.”Casella and Brandon Wladkowski scored quick baskets for the Sachems at the start of the third to make it a one-point game but Danvers turned up the pressure and went on a 15-3 run to push the lead to 45-33 with 1:00 left in the third.Casella, though, knifed to the bucket and scored four quick points to cut the lead to 45-37 after three. He did it again at the start of the fourth as his conventional 3-point play made it 45-40.But after that it was all Danvers. Merry and Eric Martin would take care of six of the next eight points as the latter’s layup with 1:33 left made it 52-40 and began the celebration on the Danvers side.