Canton's Dietrich Lever drives to the hole while being checked by Salem's Devonta Riley.

Blue Wave

Rocks roll into KLAA conference semis with 59-53 victory over Chiefs

BY ED WRIGHT
Feb. 19, 2010, 10:30 p.m.

  Salem's boys basketball team was resilient for the first 30 minutes of Friday night's KLAA first-round playoff game against Canton and brilliant for the final two.

  It all added up to a stunning 59-53 victory that propels the suddenly surging Rocks into Tuesday night's KLAA Kensington Conference semifinal game against equally surprising Livonia Churchill. The opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Salem.

  The Chargers advanced by upsetting No. 1 seed Livonia Stevenson.

  Despite trailing by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, the Rocks (9-8) played fearless down the stretch, taking the lead for good with 1:30 left on Devonta Riley's deep triple from the left wing.

  Jake Peterson, the Rocks' only senior, stepped up in a big way against the Chiefs, netting 22 points and eight rebounds.

  Canton's Kevin Weisz played huge in defeat, scoring 24 points, half of which were the result of four triples.

  Riley didn't start the game, but he certainly did finish it. The junior point guard scored all 11 of his points in the final quarter.

  His biggest make came with 90 seconds left when he curled off a screen and calmly buried a long trey to put Salem up for good, 53-52.

  "I came off the screen and I was wide open," said Riley, a transfer from Westland John Glenn. "Coach tells me if I get the shot, take it, because I can hit those. It felt good when it went in.

  "It feels good to beat Canton. They got us the first time we played, so we knew this time we had to come out and work harder."

  "Devonta was a little off early in the game, but at crunchtime he really came to play," said Salem coach Bob Brodie. "He's a gamer, a competitor. He wants to win. He wants the ball in his hands all the time and he wants to shoot the big free throws at the end. He did a great job tonight."

  Salem dominated the boards for the second straight game, grabbing 38 misses to Canton's 17. Peterson and Ethan Walsh both hauled in eight rebounds. Zinoviy Pelekh pulled down six boards while Tyler Stewart and Paul Classen grabbed five each.

  Fifteen of the Rocks' rebounds were at the offensive end. One of the biggest was recorded by Walsh, who hustled after his second missed free throw with 2:41 left in the third quarter and converted the putback while getting fouled. He nailed the and-one freebie to pull Salem to within 35-33.

  "We worked on that play all week," Brodie quipped, smiling.

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