Sr. Night brings another win for surging Melrose
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—After a 0-7 start to the season, the Melrose High girls’ basketball team has stunned fans by winning their last 6 of 8 games and ride a four-game winning streak as they fight for a spot in a crowded Div. 2 playoff bracket. At press time Melrose (7-11) was facing Malden on Wednesday, who they beat just two weeks ago, 44-19. So it’s safe to say Melrose could have 8 wins heading into their last game against Methuen at home on Thursday. The Red Raiders can reasonably finish 9-11, just a hair under .500, a record that would have given them automatic entry into playoffs. Will they come up just short? It remains to be seen, as final power rankings have not yet been released (teams under .500 in all sports can be considered for playoffs based on strength of schedule, so nothing is set in stone.)
Playoffs or not, Melrose has made their final weeks of play as enjoyable as can be, including their game on Senior Night last Friday night against Stoneham, when they earned their 7th win of the season in a 52-37 final. Leading scoring for Melrose was freshman Scarlet D’Addio with 18 points and juniors Chloe Gentile and Megan Casey with 10 each.
It’s been a rather remarkable turnaround for the young team, whose starters consist of 4 juniors and a freshman. But, over the course of the season it’s been their upperclass leaders who have helped Melrose find their footing and create a warm chemistry that has led to infectious energy on and off the court. Melrose gave fans what they were looking forward to during a super-charged Senior Night game against Stoneham at home in front of a large group and the musical accompaniment of the MHS Pep Band. The night started by honoring their two seniors Ava Burns and captain Ella Brennan.
Melrose immediately had fans cheering as they took quick leads of 6-0 and 9-0 behind a Scarlet D’Addio 3 pointer, plus a layup/and-one drawn by Chloe Gentile (5 first half points). Sofia Smith and Ava Tormo found the net for Melrose and D’Addio hit another of her three to help Melrose run out to a 16-4 lead. Megan Casey came up big in the second quarter with a layup that drew an and-one and Melrose showed good defense behind blocks from Gia Vlajkovic and Chloe Gentile, plus a steal from D’Addio that was fed to Sofia Smith to help make it 28-13 at the half.
In the third, Sofia Smith drew an and-one and Meghan Casey hit a three that had fans on their feet. Scarlet D’Addio continued her point streak and Melrose took a large 40-27 lead going into the fourth. Contributions from Chloe Gentile (5 points) and Gia Vlajkovic (3) plus another smooth three by D’Addio took Stoneham essentially out of game for a final, 52-37 score.
While this may be their final week of play in their 2021-22 season, Coach Bill Hirschfeld’s team can take pride in turning the tide around January 14 when they posted almost 60 points on the board, and since then, hasn’t really stopped.
On Thursday (post deadline) Melrose will host Methuen at 6:00 p.m. for their final regular season game. Stay tuned.