Travel to Melrose (3-2) tonight at 5 p.m.
By TYM BROWN
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High boys’ basketball team improved to 4-1 when they defeated the Woburn Tanners 70-47 on Tuesday. Wakefield’s big three of Mike Wilkinson, Ethan Margolis and De’Ari Burton all played a fantastic game from start to finish. The three totaled 62 points in this blowout win (Wilkinson 26 pts, Margolis 20 pts, Burton 16 pts) as they led the Warriors to their fourth win of the season.
Michael Wilkinson backed up his career-high showing of 35 points against Salem with another phenomenal performance as he scored 26 points. The first of these points came straight after the tip-off with the deflection from the opening jump landing directly in Wilkinson’s hands, setting him up for a layup just three seconds into the game.
Senior Captain Brett Tuzzolo for the Tanners matched Wilkinson’s shot at the other end. This shot by Tuzzolo would be the last time Woburn would tie or have the potential to take the lead in this game. A John Porter layup and Burton 3-pointer put Wakefield up 7-2 on the following possessions.
Woburn looked to be shaken after going nearly a week without playing in a game. Woburn’s head Coach Randy Parker called a timeout to change his team’s strategy, having the Tanners switch into a 2-3 zone when they went back on the floor. This failed to slow down the Warriors’ offense as Margolis found Burton wide open on a fastbreak to get keep Wakefield’s offensive attack flowing.
Regarding Margolis’ role as a playmaker on this team, he said, “I’m just trying to help my teammates out. A win is a win. If I can help in any way then it’s perfect for me.”
Margolis has been averaging 5.2 assists per game on the season and is a prominent reason that this Warrior offense is able to flow so well. Including his pass to Burton, Margolis led the team as he dished out 6 assists for the Warriors without a turnover.
The second quarter began with a 3-pointer from Burton to put Wakefield up 21-10. Back-to-back layups from Margolis on the following possessions pushed Woburn to the cusp of letting this game get completely out of hand. A layup from Wilkinson and two free throws from Burton pushed the Warrior lead to 17, but the Tanners came firing back. Liam Dillon and Tuzzolo lead their team on a 7-0 run to cut Wakefield’s lead back down to 10 with two-and-a-half minutes left in the 2nd quarter. Both teams went on a 2-minute long scoring drought until Margolis scored a fading jumper off of an offensive rebound. Dillon quickly responded with a layup on the other end.
There were just seven seconds left in the half as Margolis raced up the floor and gave the ball to Porter who gifted it back to Margolis for a buzzer-beating 3 that gave Wakefield a 13-point lead going into the half.
Wakefield came into the second half with intensity as they attacked on both sides of the ball, but most notably on defense. The Warriors used a full-court press to keep the pressure on Woburn. When starting center John Porter explained the team’s usage of a full-court press, he stated, “We have a lot of athletes in our lineup that are quick. They can get to the ball easily and guard multiple positions.”
Margolis chimed in to say that this year, the team is “trying to be a lot more aggressive. Getting in passing lanes, getting deflections and trying to just disrupt teams as much as we can.”
The Warriors played with perfect aggression in the second half, limiting their fouling and causing 12 turnovers. The third quarter was also a quality showing offensively for Wakefield as Margolis and Wilkinson continued their illustrious scoring by exchanging mid-range fadeaways. Wakefield found themselves with an 11-point lead going into the 4th quarter and had dominated in all facets of the game so far. This was not subject to change in the final minutes of play.
Wakefield played better in the final quarter than they had in any quarter prior. In the very first possession of the frame, Wilkinson stole the ball from Woburn while making a miraculous play to keep the ball in bounds and then hustled to the other end, finishing the play with a tough layup through contact. Burton then stole the ensuing inbound pass and scored a layup of his own. The Warriors caused nine turnovers for the Tanners in the 4th quarter alone.
A little past midway through the quarter, Margolis hit his second 3 of the contest to push the lead to over 20 for the first time in the game. Wakefield outscored Woburn 21-9 in the concluding quarter to boost the total scoring differential to 23 points.
This game was a clinic from start to finish for the Warriors in every way imaginable. Efficient scoring, relentless defense and winning the rebounding battle were just some of the reasons this game ended as lopsided as it did. A very important thing to note for the Warriors is ball security. They only had four turnovers the entire game.
The Warriors hope to carry the momentum from this game into the next as they’re set to face rival Melrose (3-2) on the road tonight at 5 p.m.
