SALEM — Hall-Dale turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, rolling past Mt. Abram, 70-34, in a boys’ Class C South basketball game Saturday afternoon.

Hall-Dale (3-1) scored 12 straight points to open the third quarter while working out of a full-court, double-team trap press. The Bulldogs put the game out of reach when Quin Stebbins and Jeff Boyer hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 45-23 lead with 4:40 left in the third.

“In the first half we were abysmal,” Hall-Dale coach Chris Ranslow said. “We did a nice job in the second half, applying pressure and forcing Mt. Abram to do things they didn’t want to do.”

Mt. Abram (1-3) managed just five shots in the pivotal third quarter, while consistently turning the ball over against the Hall-Dale press. The Roadrunners finished the game with 29 turnovers.

“Hall-Dale is a tough team,” Mt. Abram coach James Barker said. “We are really young and need more time. We need to get more experience before we can get better.”

Mt. Abram battled in the first half, cutting into an early 14-5 Hall-Dale lead when Dan Luce, who scored a team-high 10 points, converted a pair of free throws to cut the margin to 18-14. Hall-Dale countered with consecutive baskets from Alec Roberts-Poulin as the Bulldogs stretched their lead to 22-14 at 6:55 of the second quarter.

Difficulty shooting from the perimeter forced the Bulldogs to crash the offensive boards in the first half, successfully producing six second-chance points as the half wound down for a 33-23 lead going into the halftime break.

“We worked hard,” Ranslow said. “Things were not going our way early, but we kept working at it and did a nice job as the game progressed.”

Hall-Dale hit just 13-of-34 (38 percent) shots in the first half, then raised the level converting 12-of-27 (44 percent) in the second half. The Bulldogs hit 13-of-23 from the free-throw line, while Mt. Abram connected with 7-of-10 attempts. Mt Abram finished the game making 12-of-29 shots.

Featuring a balanced offensive line-up, the Bulldogs placed three players in double figures led by Ashtyn Abbott’s 13 points. Tyler Nadeau followed with 12, while Stebbins added 11.

Bulldog Jeff Boyer paced his team’s spurt in the third quarter, scoring all nine of his points in the period, helping lift Hall-Dale to a 59-26 advantage after three quarters.

Finn MacKay and Luke Romanoski powered the Roadrunners with eight points apiece. Romanoski drained a pair of three-point shots in the first half to keep Mt. Abram in the game.