By TYM BROWN
WAKEFIELD — The Warriors won their second game in a row on Friday night, blowing out the visiting Stoneham Spartans 61-45 in a very one-sided matchup. This win was led by a dynamic performance from the backcourt duo of De’Ari Burton (17 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast) and Jack Millward (17 pts, 11 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl) to deliver the Spartans their 7th loss of the season.
The offense started out hot for Wakefield as a steal-and-score for Millward put points on the board just 14 seconds into the game. Burton then got himself started with a blast to the basket, finishing easy with his left hand.
Senior John Faletra hit a 3-pointer for Stoneham as the shot clock drained out on the next possession, but this sparked an even greater response from Burton. The Warrior point guard hit back-to-back triples from the right wing, leaving the Spartan defense completely lost and forcing an early timeout for the visitors.
“Coach always tells us to never take a team lightly,” said Burton. “We gotta play hard for 32 minutes to get the win.” The senior captain played with vigorous intensity to start the game and there’s no doubt this had an effect on the rest of the team.
On the next play out of the timeout, senior captain Connor Mauriot sprawled on the floor in pursuit of a loose ball, forcing the third turnover in just 4 minutes for Stoneham. A possession later, Millward hit a 3 from straightaway and followed that with a steal on the ensuing inbound by Stoneham. The sophomore guard tipped a pass straight to Burton for another easy pair of points, forcing another timeout as the Warriors now led by 11 points.
Sophomore center Tony Dean got the Spartans back in the scoring column out of the timeout as he towered over all of the Wakefield defenders for an easy putback. The big man was certainly the toughest assignment for the Warriors that night as his size and rebounding ability was off the charts.
“Going into this week, we kind of knew he was gonna be a better rebounder,” said junior center Jackson Fitzpatrick, the main defender on Dean for the night. “Coach gave me one job and that was to keep him off the glass and keep him out of the paint.”
Fitzpatrick did a great job wearing down his opponent, drawing multiple fouls on Dean in the game, as well as reeling in 9 rebounds of his own to manage the boards as Wakefield won the rebounding battle 36-26. The other part of the Warrior frontcourt, Matt Beaver, kept the offense flowing by hitting his first triple of the game and then found junior Kevin DeGray for his first three of the season on the next possession. Stoneham closed the quarter with a layup from sophomore Brian Alves to cut the Wakefield lead to nine.
The second quarter was a slower pace offensively for both teams, but Wakefield maintained a double-digit lead until just under three minutes left in the first half. Both teams looked tired at this point and began to simply chuck shots from deep range, going 0-for-4 collectively from deep in a 1-minute span. This was broken up by a pure shot from the top of the key by Spartan senior captain Kevin Gilmartin and then another triple immediately following by John Faletra. This brought the Wakefield lead down to six points, but not for long as Beaver struck again from deep range when the Stoneham defense vacated him on the right wing. A minute later, Millward blocked a 3-point attempt, catapulting the ball ahead of him like a self-pass for a transition finish much to the liking of the Wakefield crowd. The Warriors went into halftime confidently leading 37-26.
All momentum that Wakefield thought they had going into the half suddenly dissipated as Stoneham went on a sudden 6-0 run to start the 3rd, capped by a 3 from senior captain Jack Bunnell from five steps beyond the arc. Burton awoke his team as he drew and hit two free throws, then ran a pick-and-fade to perfection with Beaver whose third triple of the game struck the Spartans in a tough spot once again.
The Warrior offense was flowing once again, but this didn’t shake Stoneham out of their rhythm. Every basket was met by a response from the other team, except the strong finish at the basket by Millward to close the quarter with a 12-point Warrior lead.
The fourth quarter was simple for Wakefield as their collective lockdown defense held Stoneham to just seven points in the final eight minutes and forcing four turnovers in the process. There’s not much else to be said about the Warriors defensively in that quarter other than them being fundamentally sound and not allowing for second chances by owning the defensive glass.
The offense lacked flare in final quarter, but none was necessary as the home team lightly cruised to the finish while expanding their lead only slightly to 16 points in the end.
The Warriors never trailed in this dominating win. Though Stoneham did cut the lead down significantly at times, Wakefield never lost control and outscored their opponent in every quarter.
The next game for Wakefield will be on the road as the Warriors try to win their third game in a row in Winchester tonight at 6 p.m. The Red and Black have had an up and down season with their only two losses suffered against Melrose and Arlington both teams that Wakefield beat by double-digits.