By TYM BROWN
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High boys’ basketball team kicked their season off with a huge 76-63 win over the Arlington Spy Ponders on Tuesday night at the Charbonneau Field House.
This 13-point win was led by a powerful duet of offensive performances from sophomore guard Jack Millward (27 pts) and junior forward Matt Beaver (26 pts). Though this game did end up being somewhat of a blowout, the outcome did not always look certain.
To start the game, the Warriors found themselves in a 5-0 hole as they turned the ball over four times in the first two minutes. Finally getting the home team on the board was Beaver with a 3-pointer from the left wing. This started a 12-2 Wakefield run, capped by two triples from Millward (5-for-6 from 3 for the game). Arlington’s Kayden Mills stopped this run with an acrobatic layup, but the Spy Ponder defense still could not keep up with Wakefield. A layup from Beaver and 3’s from Millward and senior captain De’Ari Burton (12 pts, 6 ast) on consecutive possessions closed the first quarter with a 20-12 lead for the Warriors.
Wakefield looked sluggish to begin the 2nd quarter as Arlington junior Lincoln Fudge took control of the game. Fudge hit a pair of free throws, a 3 from the right wing and a right-handed floater two possessions later. This forced the Warriors to take a timeout with a one-possession lead.
Arlington kept their foot on the gas after this stoppage as freshman Alexi Trapotsis got a put-back layup and then a fast-break bucket after another Wakefield turnover to give the Spy Ponders the lead 23-22. To this point in the quarter, Arlington was controlling the pace on both ends, forcing the Warriors into many turnovers.
For the final three minutes of the quarter, the home squad flipped the switch and took over. Senior captain Connor Mauriot hit a corner triple after a smooth cross-court pass from Beaver to retake the lead for Wakefield. Beaver then hit a perimeter shot of his own on the next possession, followed by a running floater from Millward to seal an 8-0 run by the Warriors heading into halftime.
The cascade of buckets continued in the third quarter as Burton hit a perimeter shot to start the second half, putting Wakefield up by double-digits. Arlington responded with an easy 2 off a backdoor cut from Mills that caught Wakefield’s defense sleeping. A timeout from Wakefield came after that shot, presumably to reset the defense, but no difference came. Both offenses traded baskets back-and-forth as Fudge and junior captain James Dingman scored all of the Spy Ponders’ next 11 points.
A fourth triple went through for Millward followed by a smooth assist to Beaver on a backdoor cut to finally expand the lead to 13 points. Millward was a huge difference maker in this game on the offensive end, and it didn’t go unnoticed.
“When Jack gets going, he’s hard to guard,” said Warriors’ head coach Colin Halpin. “He’s long, he can handle the ball, he’s dynamic.”
With a huge lead to start the final quarter, Wakefield looked extremely laid back, so much so that turnovers ensued as well as a lack of defensive poise. The Arlington defense got aggressive in a full-court press which strained the Warriors’ passing abilities, showing that this team is still rough around the edges. The Spy Ponders climbed back from what was a 16-point deficit to only be down by single digits with just two minutes left in the game.
“I don’t know if that was fatigue or what,” said coach Halpin on his team’s defensive effort in the late stretch of the game.
The Wakefield offense was able to keep pace with their opponents to close the game, stopping an attempted miracle comeback. The cherry on top for the Warriors was a tough and-one finish for Beaver created by clean passing. This basket shut down the final effort from Arlington as they attempted to foul themselves into a more favorable situation.
“When we move the ball and we move our bodies and we play with a pace and a purpose, we’re a pretty good team,” said Halpin. “When we don’t do those things, we’re easy to guard. It’s definitely something we’re going to clean up.”
After securing the first win of the season, Millward said, “We’ve got to pick it up at the end of games, we were great for three quarters, but the end of the 4th is where we need to pick it up.”
The Warriors will look to secure their next win in easier fashion against Melrose. The Melrose boys’ team lost their first game of the year to Belmont and should be anxious for a win when they come to Wakefield.
The rivalry doubleheader begins at 5:30 p.m. with the girls’ game and continues at 7 p.m. with the boys’ game tonight at the Charbonneau Field House.
Wakefield vs. Arlington box score
| Name | Pts | Reb | Ast | Stl | Blk | FG | 3-pt | FT |
| Millward | 27 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8/12 | 5/6 | 6/8 |
| Beaver | 26 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10/13 | 3/4 | 3/4 |
| Burton | 12 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 5/12 | 2/7 | 0/0 |
| Mauriot | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2/4 | 1/2 | 3/4 |
| McDermott | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1/4 | 0/1 | 0/0 |
| Fitzpatrick | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/2 |
| O’Callahan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 |
| Total | 76 | 35 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 26/48 | 11/21 | 13/18 |