NEWARK – When you score the first 13 points, that’s a lucky number.
Salesianum did it Thursday night, riding that flying start to a 58-50 victory over Howard in the second semifinal of the DIAA Boys Basketball Tournament in front of a raucous, sellout crowd at the Carpenter Center.
The top-seeded Sals (15-8) earned the chance to go for the school’s third hoops title at 6 p.m. Saturday against third-seeded Tower Hill, which will be playing in the championship game for the first time.
Sallies overwhelmed the Wildcats at the start, as Howard missed its first eight shots and turned the ball over six times in the first seven minutes.
“It started with our defense,” Sals coach Taylor Trevisan said. “We made some key adjustments from the last time we played them. The guys executed from the jump.”
FIRST SEMI:Tower Hill looks at home in reaching first DIAA boys basketball final
The offense wasn’t bad, either. Salesianum’s first three buckets were 3-pointers – from Isaiah Hynson, Justin Molen and Kareem Thomas. Then William Mutts scored on an offensive rebound and Brett O’Hara banked in a layup for a 13-0 lead with 1:33 left in the first quarter.
“It helps that we made a few shots, a couple of threes,” Trevisan said. “It showed me the guys were ready. They weren’t nervous. The stage wasn’t too big.”
Fourth-seeded Howard (18-5) scored a 62-59 victory at Sallies on Feb. 19, but this one was a different story. The Wildcats couldn’t get their fast-paced offense going and trailed 17-4 after one quarter and 31-13 at halftime.
“Definitely rebound and stop them in transition,” Hynson said of the keys to slowing Howard. “That’s really what they’re good at doing, getting the ball and scoring in transition, so we wanted to stop that early.”
The game got chippy late in the third quarter, with a couple of skirmishes requiring the officials’ attention and resulting in a technical foul and ejection for each team.
Then the Wildcats got their crowd fired up for the first time in the fourth quarter. Once trailing 43-20, Howard scored 18 of the next 22 points to pull within 47-38 on De’Mere Hollingsworth’s offensive rebound bucket with 4:46 remaining.
The Sals quickly righted the ship with a 7-0 run.
“I’m super proud of the guys,” Trevisan said. “We knew they were going to make a run. Howard is too good of a team to not make a run.
“They tried to muck it up and make it a little bit dirty, but our guys, I think for the most part, kept their composure. I’m really proud of them, and the job’s not done yet.”
Tower Hill looked very sharp in a 58-42 semifinal win over Seaford earlier Thursday. The Hillers will be looking to avenge a 54-46 home loss to Sallies on Feb. 3.
“They’ve got a couple of guys that are back for them that didn’t play the first time we played Tower Hill,” Trevisan said. “I’m really excited about the matchup. Another really good defensive team.”
BOX SCORE: Salesianum 58, Howard 50
Hynson, who had nine points and three rebounds in the semifinals, knows what the key will be.
“Defense, defense, defense,” he said. “That’s where it’s going to start. Obviously, offensively we’re a good team. Defensively, rebounding, getting the ball and pushing, that’s what we have to do to beat them.”
Justin Molen led the Sals with 16 points and 12 rebounds on Thursday, but was helped off the floor with a leg injury late in the game. His availability for the final is uncertain, but he was seen walking out of the locker room on his own after the game.
Hollingsworth and Darius Brown each scores 14 for Howard, and Jameer DeShields chipped in 10.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ
