Warriors take down M.L. Liberty division power Belmont by 19
JOHN EVANGELISTA, a senior guard, netted a game high 26 points including six three-pointers in Wakefield’s 83-64 triumph over Belmont on Friday night at the Charbonneau Field House. (Donna Larsson File Photo)
Published in the January 30, 2017 edition.
By DAN BYRNE
WAKEFIELD — Friday night the paying customers at Charbonneau Field House got their money’s worth from the Wakefield Memorial High School varsity boys’ basketball team as it took down 10-3 Belmont by 19 points, 83-64.
“It was a great win for us,” Head Coach Brad Simpson said after the game. “We needed to get back into the win column. It was a big challenge for us, so it was a big win for us.”
The Warriors were led by an impressive all-around output from senior Kobey Nadeau. The captain led the way for his teammates on both sides of the floor, dominating in the low post and cleaning up the boards, while scoring 22 points.
“I can almost imagine how good he would be if he hadn’t broken his leg,” Simpson admitted. “He’s still only playing at about 75 percent efficiency, but he was awesome tonight.”
Wakefield outscored Belmont 19-18 in a high scoring first quarter. It was a good change for Coach Simpson to see, as his team had been getting off to some slow starts recently.
“Burlington, Watertown, and Winchester we came out a little flat,” the coach said. “I think the kids really wanted to come out and play well.”
John Evangelista had 26 points in the game to lead all scorers. He dropped 16 in the first half, eight in each of the first two quarters.
“John Evangelista was in the zone,” Simpson said. “He had to keep shooting, he was getting great looks and we were finding him.”
The Warriors didn’t slow down after halftime, as the hometown team put 26 points up on the board in the thrd quarter, 10 of which were scored by Evangelista.
Belmont was nearly as good in the third quarter as the Marauders managed to hang 23 points, nine came on three Daron Hamparian three-pointers. Hamparian had six treys to account for all 18 of his points, a team high for Belmont.
The Marauders trailed by 11 after three quarters, but they made a push early in the fourth to cut the lead to single digits. Wakefield clamped down defensively on its opponent, and after surrendering a couple of early baskets, kept Belmont virtually off the board.
The Warriors allowed Belmont to total just nine points in the fourth quarter, while doing their job at the free throw line to the tune of 17 in the final quarter.
Andrew Miller had six of his 16 points in the final quarter, helping the Warriors shut the door, with a pair of crunch time free throws. He was 5-for-5 from the line in the game.
Alex McKenna had six of his 10 points in the fourth quarter, including 4-for-6 shooting from the free throw line.
“We didn’t go very deep, but the guys who played did very well,” Simpson said. “Zach Price gave us some big rebounds when they closed it to nine to secure possession a couple of times in a row. Alex McKenna, as always, was everywhere. It was just a well-played, well disciplined, high energy performance.”
The win may have been the Warriors’ best performance of the season, as they played a complete game on both ends of the floor.
The team might just be hitting their stride at the right time, with a busy week ahead of them. On Monday the Warriors head to Malden for a non-league exempt game, then they return home Tuesday night to face Woburn.
“We have a non-league game, another game with the big, then we go back to playing our own division,” said the coach, looking ahead on the schedule.
Wakefield’s record stands now at 5-6 overall and 4-6 in the Middlesex League Freedom division and they’ll need to rattle off a few wins in a row in order to qualify for the state tournament.
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WAKEFIELD 83, Belmont 64
At Charbonneau Field House
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Belmont (64) — Goodwin 0 0 0; Yardemian 7 2 17; Hamparian 6 0 18; Donoyan 1 0 2; Ferdinand 0 1 1; Ellet 0 2 2; Volante 1 0 2; Christofori 1 2 4; Ramsey 7 2 18. Totals 23 9 64.
WAKEFIELD (83) — Evangelista 8 4 26; Miller 5 5 16; McKenna 3 4 10; Nadeau 8 5 22; Price 2 1 6; DeLeire 1 1 3. Totals 27 20 83.
Score by Quarters — Belmont 18-14-23-9 — 64. WAKEFIELD 19-21-26-17 — 83.
Three-point FGs — Bel, Hamparia 6, Ramsey 2, Yardemian 1. Wak, Evangelista 6, Miller 1, Nadeau 1, Price 1.
