BY JERRY LIPTAK
Central’s student body had a message for visiting Salem and, more specifically, its star junior forward, Josh Jones: “Napoleon Dynamite – Gimme your tots!” Jones, the Central faithful feel, bears a striking resemblance to the awkward high schooler of film fame.
But on Saturday, Feb. 23, Jones was anything but awkward – though he certainly added to his burgeoning fame – in the Blue Devils’ surprisingly simple 63-47 Class L boys basketball win over the host Little Green.
Jones scored Salem’s first eight points en route to 29 markers overall, drawing “Ooohs” from the Salem fans who trekked to see this battle between the 2006 Class L champs – 11- 3 Central – and the 2007 Class L champs – 16-0 Salem.
To be completely accurate, even the Little Green followers grudgingly uttered, “Whoa!” following more than one (very) longrange three-pointer from Jones.
Central’s coach, Dave Wheeler, was more to the point.
“Sometimes, you’ve got to tip your cap to a better team, a better player,” said Wheeler. “And (Jones) is a very good player.”
And Salem is clearly a very good team. The Blue Devils, 17-0 following the victory, are one win from a perfect regular season. Alvirne, 9-6 following a recent tailspin, stands in Salem’s way.
“People keep reminding us about the Patriots,” said the Blue Devils’ head coach, E.J. Perry. “But these guys stay focused.”
“These guys” certainly were focused at Central, outscoring the hosts, 8-3, 10-0 and 8-2, at the start of the first, second and third quarters, respectively. That forced the Little Green into a constant game of catchup, a daunting task against steady Salem.
Each time Central closed to eight, nine or 10 points in the second half, Salem answered with a basket or free throw, usually involving Jones, or the Little Green committed a turnover.
“We’ve got a home crowd that’s dying for us to make a play,” said Wheeler. “We just couldn’t do it.”
With three regular-season games remaining, Central, Wheeler added, must work on defensive communication, becoming more physical and overcoming adversity.
As an undersized team, the Little Green, playing man-to-man defense, have to shout out defensive switches. That didn’t happen against Salem, which scored countless buckets on backdoor cuts.
Seamus O’Neill, recently returned from a knee injury, should help Central compete near the basket, using his 6-foot-4, 240-pound frame as a low-post equalizer.
Most importantly, the team must learn to come back from deficits and overcome unfavorable game sequences, said Wheeler. He looks to Will Bayliss and Michael Stys to provide leadership and added the team’s postseason performance is directly related to theirs.
That suits Wheeler just fine. He called Bayliss “a born leader, a born worker” who simply tried to do too much against Salem. Stys, according to his coach, averaged nearly 30 points in the previous five games, of which four were victories.
Against the Blue Devils, Stys netted 19 points. Bayliss added 13. Central, 11-4 after the loss, dropped to fifth place in Class L, but the team closes the regular season against the current No. 4 seed, Londonderry, on Sunday, March 2.