Boys hoop team earns tourney trophy

Finishes flawless at Leo DeSimone Tourney

 

After press time:
Melrose defeats Burlington 50-48 (Jan. 5)

By JENNIFER GENTILE

SOMERVILLE—The Melrose High boys’ basketball team earned a tournament championship when they went flawless against the competition at the 2022 Leo DeSimone Holiday Tournament held at Somerville High over New Years’ weekend.

Winners of three in a row, Melrose (3-3) followed that up with a big win over Winchester on Tuesday and home 62-40, and will now host their first Freedom League game when Burlington comes to town tonight, Friday, Jan. 5 at the MVMMS gym at 5:45 p.m.

Melrose kicked off tournament play on Dec. 28 and overwhelmed O’Bryant, 61-25, in game one and advanced to finals in game two to beat Somerville 47-27.

For their efforts ,Melrose named several players to their All-Tournament team including MVP John Arens, along with all-tournament teammates Miles Nzui and Ben Perella.

Perella was instrumental in Melrose’s first win over O’Bryant leading the way with 13 points as Melrose held O’Bryant to just 25 points the entire game. Melrose jumped out early and went up 9 after first quarter and never looked back. “We pressured O’Bryant and we were able to speed them up and get steals which lead to great easy transition baskets from John Arens and Owen Mujalli,” says Melrose head coach Dan Burns. Mujalli was also excellent on the boards and defense during Melrose’s win on Tuesday over Winchester.

Melrose held the lead over O’Bryant for the entire game and saw a 20-point lead at halftime. To start the third quarter, Melrose continued to pressure the basketball and extend the lead to 30 points.

“Our entire team was able to play and secure the win,” says Burns. “Our size and athleticism helped overwhelm.”

A day later, they advanced to play Somerville in the finals at the host school and fought to a convincing 47-27 win, this despite Somerville jumping out to an early 10-1 lead to start the game. Melrose’s John Arens lead the way with 18 points, Miles Nzui had 10, Connor Brophy and John Lamas each had 8. Melrose had sent starters John Arens, Miles Nzui, Ben Perella, John Lamas, Owen Mujalli out, with first off the bench standouts Connor Brophy and Nolan Natale getting major time.

“We didn’t have a good flow on offense and we made a lot of mistakes to start the game. Lot of careless unforced turnovers lead to us trailing after the first quarter 10-5,” notes coach Burns. “However, we then held Somerville to 0 points in the entire second quarter and I think our man-to-man defense was great.”

Melrose shot the basketball with great precision with seven three pointers courtesy of Connor Brophy, Miles Nzui, and John Arens, who all shot well from the outside and helped Melrose go into halftime up 22-10.

Melrose kept the focus on defense in the second half against an athletic and well-shooting Somerville team. Notes the coach, “We wanted to really stress closing out on shooters and playing defense. Owen Mujalli did a fantastic job pressuring the point guard for Somerville and that allowed for Somerville to really struggle to get the ball into the paint.”

The end result was a 47-27 win that brought the tournament trophy back to Melrose.

Coming off that win, the boys in red and white made it three in a row with a their first home win of the season on Tuesday evening against league rival Winchester (4-2) by a wide margin score of 62-40. It was their most impressive effort of the season, a disciplined and fast paced game that saw Melrose shine with quick assists and sharp outside shooting. Leading scoring was John Arens with 19 and Miles Nzui with 18. Impressive defense and rebounding came from Mujalli. 

Melrose didn’t have much of a problem against the Red and Black overall, taking early leads of 4-0 and 9-2 behind the shooting of John Arens and Connor Brophy. Miles Nzui put on a show with several reverse layups and a couple threes to give Melrose a 27-12 lead at the half. Arens and Nzui continued to impress in the second and Connor Brophy had several steals and rebounds to put Melrose up 46-25 at the end of the third. More sharp shooting from Nzui and Arens pulled Melrose way ahead and they’d take the 62-40 win.

According to coach Burns, having senior captain Connor Brophy back in the lineup has helped earn this winning streak.

“With Connor Brophy back now we not only get more scoring but it helps with our rebounding. Early on we haven’t had the size to be able to dominate the glass and now with Connor back we are able to match up with teams that have size.”

With league rival Burlington (2-4) on tap for key league game on Friday at home, Melrose will continue to focus on defense, particularly again Burlington’s Cedric Rodriquez who’ll they will laser in on.

Says the coach, “From the beginning of the season, we have been really focusing on the defensive side of the ball. We have been playing pretty good defense and so despite the close losses to Belmont and Reading, the kids have continued to stay positive and keep believing in what we are doing on a daily basis.”

Middlesex League boys’ basketball standings

Freedom Division

Team W-L (LG)

Wakefield 4-1 (4-0)

Burlington 3-4 (2-2)

Watertown 1-1 (1-1)

Melrose 3-3 (1-3)

Wilmington 1-4 (1-3)

Stoneham 1-5 (0-4)

Liberty Division

Team W-L (LG)

Reading 6-1 (3-1)

Belmont 4-2 (3-1)

Lexington 2-2 (2-1)

Arlington 4-2 (2-2)

Winchester 4-2 (2-2)

Woburn 1-4 (1-2)