Classical hangs on for close win

SALEM – Classical played like one of the top teams in the Northeastern Conference for the first three and a half quarters of Monday’s contest against Salem. The Rams were fortunate to survive a late Salem rally to secure a 61-58 victory at Veterans Memorial Field House.Classical center Kyle Doucette tallied 14 of his 20 points in the second half. Monte Wolfe contributed 10 points. Ronnie Williams helped the Rams (3-2, 3-0) with a couple of key free throws before Salem just missed a long three-pointer at the buzzer. “Other than the turnovers, I was happy with the defense,” said Classical head coach Tom Grassa.The game was a back-and-forth affair until early in the fourth quarter when Classical went on an 11-2 run to take a 55-43 lead with about five minutes left. Jordan Brown drilled his third three-pointer of the night during this stretch. Doucette added a couple of baskets inside, including one where he picked off a pass from a Salem forward underneath the Classical basket.Salem point guard Jamie Dominguez (14 points) ended the Classical run with a trey from the top of the arc to cut the Witches’ deficit to nine (55-46). The Witches (2-2, 2-1) then outscored Classical, 12-4, in the final four minutes of the game. The drive was highlighted by five turnovers and rushed field goal attempts from Classical. Dominguez nailed two three-pointers and David Kazadi (18 points) scored six points off free throws and a layup in transition.”We spent two minutes from the four-minute mark to the two-minute mark where we were only using six or seven seconds off the shot clock,” said Grassa. “I used the timeout and told the kids in our last five possessions, we only attempted one shot and made four turnovers.”Classical was holding on to a 59-55 lead before Dominguez made another three-pointer to cut the Classical advantage to one point with nine seconds left in the game. Brown missed a free throw and was called for a free throw violation that gave Salem the ball with 8.7 seconds left. Dominguez drove down the court and missed a runner in the lane. Williams came down with the rebound before he was fouled.Through most of the second half, Classical was getting points on dribble penetration by Williams and the inside scoring of Doucette. The Rams held the Witches’ athleticism in check. They were able to contain Salem from crashing the boards and scoring off offensive rebounds. While the Rams’ turnovers nearly proved costly at the end of the game, the Witches were not able to get in the open court the way they were early in the second quarter.”We did a lot of switching with our defense” said Grassa. “We tried to contain Kazadi and their outside shooting.”