Boys’ hoop team comes through in the clutch

Warriors emerge with 62-59 triumph in thriller against Melrose

By JIM SOUTHMAYD

WAKEFIELD — Clutch shooting and rebounding turned out to be a huge factor for the Warriors last night at the Charbonneau Field House. A little good luck helped as well.

The Wakefield Memorial boys’ basketball team scored the winning points with 34.6 seconds left and came up with a big rebound down the other end of the court as it pulled out an exciting 62-59 triumph over archrival Melrose.

Wakefield trailed 59-55 with 1:25 left after junior guard/forward Justin Nyland (12 points) hit two free throws. After a near turnover, the ball was kicked out to the left wing where junior forward Jon Miller (13 points) drained a three-pointer to cut the lead down to one, 59-58, with 1:02 left in the fourth quarter.

After a Melrose pass went out of bounds, the Warriors drove the ball up the floor and senior guard and captain Brian Dickey (a team high 21 points) drove to the basket to record the layup. He was also fouled on the play and made the throw to complete the three-point with 34.6 seconds left. That put the Warriors up 61-59.

After a Melrose timeout with 29.7 seconds left to set up a last second shot, the Red Raiders come out and tried to get a jumper in close quickly to tie the game. After a miss by senior forward Anthony Gilardi (11 points), senior guard Chris Calnan came down with the rebound but couldn’t hang as the ball went back to Melrose.

The Red Raiders then had two short jumpers by Gilardi and senior forward Colby Andrews (a game high 25 points) miss and junior forward Tighe Beck came down with the rebound for Wakefield. He was fouled with 3.6 seconds left and made one of two free throws down the other end to put the Warriors up by three.

On Beck’s miss on his second foul shot, Nyland got the ball and fired up a shot from three-quarters of the court away. The ball hit the backboard but came up short as the Warriors increased their overall record to 4-5 and 4-3 in the Middlesex League Freedom division.

“That was a great high school game,” said Head Coach Brad Simpson. “It was like two heavyweight fighters exchanging blow by blow. John Miller hit a three-pointer and then number 10 (T’Mahri Mercer) hit one for them. Then Brian Dickey made a basket and free for a three-point play. It was back and forth. Tighe Beck came up with a huge rebound for us. Melrose had its top shooters take high percentage shots from the four to six feet range. The basketball gods were with us. There appeared to be a lid on the basket to keep those shots from going in.”

Beck scored five points and had eight rebounds, none of which was bigger than his last one in the closing seconds.

Dickey had 21 points but also had five assists. Dickey sank two three-point shots.

Calnan, a captain, recorded 16 points including two treys. Calnan also had nine rebounds and four assists.

Miller scored 13 points with four treys. In addition, junior Corey Imbriano had four points and sophomore forward Alex McKenna, making his first start, chipped in with three points.

Also playing well were senior MJ Urbano and junior Elijah Nardone. While neither scored points, both helped the team with some valuable minutes with senior Andrew Auld out with an injury and sophomores Kobe Nadeau and Zach Price out sick. Urbano had a solid floor game with three steals and four assists.

Wakefield also did a good job of handling the ball, especially in the second half when it had just three turnovers.

“I thought our two captains (Dickey and Calnan) had a great overall floor game and they led us,” said Simpson. “Alex made his first start and he played super. He brought a lot of energy and intensity. I thought MJ Urbano did a great job defensively during a stretch of five to six minutes in the first half. He helped settle us down when we running up and down the floor. He saw we didn’t have numbers so he stopped and help us slow down and run our offense.

“We also nice lift from Corey Imbriano. He is now healthy and getting basketball healthy,” continued Simpson. “He hit a key basket in the paint on a miss. I call Jon Miller the quiet assassin. He can hit the three-pointer anytime or go to the basket. Tighe Beck is the motor that makes us go. He came up with a big rebound at the end.”

Wakefield had strong first quarter and opened up a 14-6 lead. After a basket by senior forward Charles Bonasoro, Dickey canned a trey. Andrew made a jumper with 6:04 left and then the Warriors went on a 6-0 run to take a 9-6 lead. Calnan scored after a steal by McKenna and then McKenna set up a Dickey for a basket. Calnan then made a layup.

Andews scored from the baseline with 1:24 left in the first and then Dickey drove the baseline for a layup and sank a trifecta to give Wakefield an eight point lead after eight minutes.

Calnan hit at trey to start the second quarter to put the Warriors up by 11 points, 17-6, with 7:24 remaining in the half. But Andrews hit a baseline shot and then put back a miss to cut the lead down to seven points. Dickey made one of two free throws. Then Andrews answered with a fast break basket and Gilardi recorded a layup to cut the lead to four points, 18-14, with 4:57 left in the second.

McKenna sank two foul shots and then Nyland made two free throws and Andrews put back a missed shot to get the Warrior lead down to two points, 20-18, with 3:30 left.

Miller and Nyland each went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe. After a miss on the front end of a one-and-one by Calnan, Nyland drove to the basket to to the game at 21-21 with 2:44 left in the second. Miller sank a three-pointer and Calnan made a layup to put Wakefield up by five again, 26-21. But Andrews made a jumper and Nyland recorded a trifecta to tie the game at 26-26.

Miller got another three-point shot to fall. Andrews and McKenna each hit a foul shot and Andrews put back a missed shot before the halftime buzzer as Wakefield went to the locker room with a 30-29 lead.

Andrews hit a jump shot with 6:46 left in the third period to give Melrose a 31-30 lead. Wakefield retook the lead on a pair of foul shots by Calnan. Gilardi made a layup and them Imbriano put back a missed shot and Calnan sank two more foul shots to give Wakefield a 36-33 lead with 4:05 left in the third.

Bonasoro hit a baseline shot before Imbriano and Dickey made layups to the Warriors in front, 40-35. Gilardi made a jumper to cut the lead to 40-37 after three quarters.

Gilardi got a jumper to fall with 7:40 left in the fourth quarter. Beck then hit an inside basket and made two free throws to give Wakefield a 44-39 advantage with 6:28 left in regulation.

The Red Raiders then went on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 44-44 with 5:44 remaining. Gilardi recorded a three-point play with field goal and free throw. Mercer and Andrews both went 1-for-2 from the foul line.

Miller answered with a three to put the Warriors back in front. Andrews made a basket and then Dickey sank two free throws.

Then things got really exciting when Mercer hit a trey, Calnan answered with a three-pointer, Mercer recorded another trifecta, Dickey scored a three-point play with basket and free throw and Andrews answered with a field goal and free throw to tie the score at 55-55 with 2:51 left.

Nyland hit a jumper with 2:04 left and then the Warriors had a pair of misses from Urbano and Dickey. Nyland then sank two foul shots to put the Red Raiders up by four, 59-55. But Melrose didn’t score any more points the rest of the way as Wakefield rallied to win the game.

“This was a big win for us,” said Simpson. “I’m pleased for the kids.”

Simpson, who has been under the weather the past couple of games, also wanted to thank his assistant coaches for the extra responsibility they took, particularly for the Wilmington contest. Assistant coaches Bryan Sweeney, John Amentola and Ryan Rexford were a big help and Simpson credits their input as a big part of the win last night.

The Warriors take on Burlington on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. at Burlington High School.

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WAKEFIELD 62, Melrose 59

At Charbonneau Field House

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Melrose (59) — Andrews 11 3 25; Prendergast 0 0 0; Gilardi 5 1 11; Nyland 3 5 12; Bonasoro 2 0 4; Mercer 2 1 7; Caffey 0 0 0; Pizzotti. Totals 23 10 59.

WAKEFIELD (62) — McKenna 0 3 3; Beck 1 3 5; Miller 4 1 13; Dickey 7 5 21; Calnan 5 4 16; Urbano 0 0 0; Imbriano 2 0 4; Nardone 0 0 0. Totals 19 16 62.

Score by Quarters — Melrose 6-23-8-22 — 59. WAKEFIELD 14-16-10-22 — 62.

Three-point FGs — Mel, Mercer 2, Nyland 1. Wak, Miller 4, Dickey 2, Calnan 2.