After press time: Melrose defeats Woburn 49-43 (Jan. 24)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High boy’s basketball team are winners of 8 of their last 9 games and are cruising along as they pass the mid way of the season with playoff qualification in mind and an 8-4 record.
They have served that purpose well as they have embarked in something of a winning streak with 8-1 victory run since Dec. 19, including four in a row during the last two weeks.
Current Power Rankings find them No. 36 in Division 2, but expect that to change as they embark in their second round of ML Freedom League games in the coming weeks.
Melrose’s latest win came on Tuesday on the road in Woburn in a 49-43 victory. Leading scoring was John Arens with 17 points and 9 each from Owen Mujalli and John Lamas. Despite Woburn tying it up 41-41 late in the game, Melrose prevailed thanks for strong free throw line work from Arens, Mujalli and Lamas.
On Friday, Jan. 19 they traveled just up the road to Stoneham to take on the Spartans for their first meeting of the season and they escaped with a 45-43 win. Melrose’s John Arens lead us in scoring with 12 points and Miles Nzui and Owen Mujalli each had 10. The boys in red and white were able to overcome a steep deficit of 17-3 in the first quarter and right the ship.
“We came out flat. Unforced turnovers and mistakes and lack of urgency really played a role in this game,” says Melrose head coach Dan Burns. “We started to pressure Stoneham in the backcourt and force the game to be played a little faster which lead to some easy transition baskets.”
By halftime, Melrose found their footing with Melrose’s Nolan Natale coming up big to narrow the gap at halftime, 24-21. “Nolan was fantastic off the bench with 5 points and a huge 3 point corner three to cut the lead to 3 at half,” says his coach.
Melrose’s second half was tight up against a sizeable Stoneham defense but down the stretch in the 4th quarter Melrose’s Owen Mujalli hit two, back-to-back three pointers to put Melrose up by 6.
Stoneham would continue to get the ball inside and earn fouls on a hoop to cut to the game to three shortly after. In the end it came down to Stoneham going for the three to win, but they missed, and Melrose was able to hold on to the win against a scrappy Stoneham, 45-43.
The next afternoon on Saturday, Melrose hit the road to play in Mayor Cup action against Malden in their first of two meetings this season. The result was a more relaxed victory by a score of 58-38.
It was a big game for Melrose junior John Arens who led in scoring with 19 points. Melrose Nzui had 13.
“We came out ready to play and never looked back,” said coach Burns, who credited Arens and Nzui, plus Melrose’s defense. “John Lamas and Connor Brophy each had 6 and with tremendous defensive efforts.”
Melrose defended the Golden Tornadoes very well and shot consistently as Malden played 2-3 zone defense exclusively the entire game. Melrose was 15-11 after one and 38-24 at half.
They took a greater lead of 27 points in the third and held on to a comfortable lead to win, 58-38.
Coach Burns sees defense being their strong point as they enter February and think about a potential postseason appearance
“Overall our defense has been our identity. We really stress and take pride in trying to keep teams to low scoring and the boys have done a great job with that,” he says.
Melrose has athleticism and adaptability lending a hand to their wins. Says the coach, “We’re not overly big in size but we are also not very small. We’re athletic and so that allows for us to be able to switch everything. We have guys that can cover multiple positions on the floor and that is a huge plus for us.”
And a defensive scheme has been a plus for the team and led to success. “We have been man-to-man exclusively this season and I’d like for it to stay that way and we hope to continue to work hard and keep buying in on the defensive side of the ball. I do believe (and the kids believe) that is a key component to our success so far.”
This Friday evening both the boys and the girls team will host their 1st Annual Basketball Night. Kids of all ages are welcome to wear their Melrose basketball get and get into the games free as both teams take on Watertown (see accompanying article) The girls will play at 5:30 and the boys at 7:00 p.m.