JOHN ARENS takes flight for the Melrose High boy’s basketball team, who earned their 9th win of the season last week and is eyeing a playoff run. (photo by Raj Das edphotos.com)

 

 

After press time: Melrose falls to Burlington 57-45 (Feb 2)
Melrose defeats Wilmington 63-41 (Feb 6)

By JENNIFER GENTILE

MELROSE—The Melrose High boy’s basketball team is a solid 9-5 and winners of 8 of their last 10 games after a 49-37 home win over visiting Watertown (7-6) on Friday, Jan. 26 during their first annual Melrose Basketball Night.

With six games left on the regular season schedule, Melrose will look pick up more wins as they round out their Freedom League play in the coming weeks.

Despite a loss to Wakefield on Tuesday (post deadline) Melrose earned a key league win over the Watertown Raiders for their fifth straight victory.

It was one of Melrose’s most impressive efforts of the season, as they had to contain Watertown Raider Jeff Herbin and a sizeable Will Carty, who provided much of Watertown’s offense and defense. But Melrose’s own defense rose to the occasion and they played a clean game overall, sending the Raiders only a few times to the foul line, while maintaining a lead the entire game.

It was a complete game for Melrose on offense with John Lamas having one of his strongest games of the season with a team-leading 13 points followed by Miles Nzui with 11, John Arens with 10 and Owen Mujalli with 9.

Key three pointers came at the right time from Melrose’s Ben Perella and Nolan Natale. Melrose was also successful with treys over the night, with six, but were just as ruthless in the paint with key inside work from Lamas, Arens and Nzui.

The two teams were tied at point 5 to start the game but Melrose extended that lead to 16-6 behind a Lamas steal for a layup, a Lamas block that set up a John Arens basket, two baskets from Nzui and a trey from Ben Perella. Melrose would have back-to-back three pointers from Nzui and Owen Mujalli to lift Melrose to 22-16 at the half.

Melrose showed proficiency at the foul line to start the second half going 8-8 with Nzui, Mujalli and Arens on the line. John Lamas closed the game out with back-to-back shots to but Melrose up for good for a final score of 49-37.

On Tuesday, MIAA Power Rankings were released. With Melrose boasting a 9-4 record at the time of release, they were ranked just 34, right outside the 33 team bubble. While playoffs are looking likely (with 9 wins and more to go) Melrose will want to resume their winning streak to make it official. They can do that by taking at least two more wins starting this Friday evening when they travel to Burlington at 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday when they host Wilmington at 5:00 p.m.