5-1 record after Burlington loss following Wakefield and Belmont wins
THE MELROSE High boy’s basketball team got off to a flawless 5-0 start after impressive Middlesex League wins and a holiday tournament championship last weekend. After press time: Melrose falls to Burlington 54-46 on Friday, Jan. 3 (courtesy photo)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High boy’s basketball team is off to their best start in years with a flawless 5-0 record after taking out archrival Wakefield, Middlesex League foes Reading and Belmont, and winning the Somerville Highlander Holiday Tourney during the school break.
The message is clear to anyone in the Middlesex League: Melrose is a team to beat.
Defeating Wakefield for the first time in three seasons was certainly a present under the tree for Melrose coach Dan Burns and his 2025 squad. Melrose entered the game against the Warriors on Dec. 19 having beaten Reading and Belmont so the Warriors knew they had their work cut out for them. But Melrose prevailed in a 52-49 thriller against a talented Wakefield team.
“We haven’t beat Wakefield in three seasons,” confirms coach Burns. “It was great to get that win as Wakefield and Melrose is such a rivalry. We were in control pretty much the entire game and we were up by 8 at halftime.”
Melrose took that lead at halftime, thanks to some solid defense, including efforts of Owen Mujalli to guard Wakefield standout Jack Millward, who recently had a 40-point game for the Warriors over Woburn.
“Our game plan was to contain Millward and Owen did a great job and has been so key for us on the defensive end. We wanted some of the other players for Wakefield to have to hit shots down the stretch,” notes Burns.
It was a balanced scoring attack for Melrose. Senior John Lamas had 16 points to lead the night, including a game-winning three pointer with 10 seconds left. John Arens had 14 points and Owen Mujalli had 12. Says Burns, “And our bench has given us key minutes with guys contributing.”
Melrose took a first quarter lead, 16-15, after several tie scores in the first 8 minutes of play. Later in the third, Wakefield caught up to Melrose, down just two at 33-31 but saw some buzzer beating action from John Arens with multiple shots to extend that lead 38-33 entering the fourth. Wakefield would cut Melrose’s lead down to 2 before John Lamas hit back-to-back shots with and-ones. Lamas would also hit a nice 3 later in the frame to give Melrose a 47-40 lead that was slowly taking Wakefield out of the game. When Wakefield closed the gap with less than a minute left, tying it with less than ten seconds to go, but Melrose fought back. In the end Lamas drove, spun and hit a layup through a foul and hit a free shot that preserved the Melrose win, 52-49.
Fueled by the victory, Melrose entered the Somerville Holiday Tournament last weekend slightly favored and sure enough took the tourney win, going 2-0 over the weekend. On day one, they prevailed over Prospect Hill soundly 59-28, though the team put up an early fight. “They were athletic and fast,” says Burns. “We did a great job with our full court pressure and really picked it up and we were able to come out in the second half and pull away,” he noted of the team’s efforts.
John Lamas led in scoring with 14 and John Arens and Owen Mujalli each had 11. For their efforts all were named to the All Tournament team with Mujalli earning MVP honors.
The next afternoon Melrose clinched the tournament with a 57-46 victory over the Somerville Highlanders. That effort was led by Owen Mujalli who had 21 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals and 5 blocks. “He was the MVP and our senior leadership really showed in this game,” says Burns. Also competing strongly in that game was Connor Smith with 14, Lamas with 13 and Arens with 10.
“Even though we were up 12 at halftime it was a tough game. Somerville is so well coached and they played extremely hard,” says coach Burns.
So far, Melrose’s efforts have been good ones in the eyes of the coach. “We are being led by great seniors and our rotation with guys coming in off the bench has been fantastic,” says Burns. “Many of these kids have been with me from when they were freshman and sophomores and they truly care about what we are doing. I’m lucky to be able to coach such a passionate group.”
Overall, being 5-0 is nice but there is a lot of basketball to play against tough teams, which includes Burlington whom Melrose travels to this Friday evening at 5:30. The Red Devils are 4-1 on the season and will want to challenge Melrose for ML Freedom League rights this season. Says coach Burns, “It will be a tough game. They have a younger group of players but are skilled and well coached. We know we will be in for a game.”
