Fresh off their melee-marred 47-34 victory at Saugus, the Danvers High boys took a while to show interest in their Gloucester High guests Tuesday night in the DHS Field House. But once they snapped to, they methodically disposed of the Fishermen, 47-23, to improve to 8-3 on the season.
The Falcons were clearly out of synch at the start, missing their first 12 shots, including their first nine three-point attempts. But as is often the case, their smothering man-to-man defend made up for their offensive indiscretions, forcing Gloucester to comitt five turnovers in their first five possessions.
Devonn Allen finally broke the scoring ice, swishing a three-pointer from the left side for the game’s first points nearly four minutes in. Gloucester actually gave the first quarter a hint of suspense when it closed within 5-4 and had the ball, but after that it was all Danvers, despite the fact the Falcons finished for the game an astonishing 7-for-44 from three-point land.
Thankfully, Tre Crittendon, after missing his first six threes in the first quarter, canned his seventh attempt in the final minute, giving DHS an 11-4 lead and the home team coasted from there.
Crittendon led the Falcons with 15 points on five threes, Rashad Francois added 11 (after his smashing 24-point performance at Saugus) and Allen finished with 10.
It was 24-6 at halftime, 36-12 after three. “Nuff said there. Odd about the Falcons three-point misfires, because they shot the ball quite well from beyond the arc at Saugus (7-14 at one stage). They’ll need to shoot a lot better to defeat host Marblehead Friday night (7 p.m. tip)
The Falcons’s defense continued to shine, leading to 21 Gloucester turnovers to Danvers’s seven.
The win improved Coach John Walsh’s out-of-this-world record at Danvers over 5 1/2 years to 113-21. Pinch me. And the Falcons potentially could finish around 15-5 by the end of the regular season, But first they must beat Marblehead.
Good to see the bandage off Allen’s left thumb. He’d been protecting the appendage for the last few games.