THE MELROSE bench erupts after a thrilling 73-61 victory over Arlington on Tuesday night. (Jennifer Gentile photo)
Impressive win puts Melrose 7-6
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose Red Raider boy’s basketball is coming into their own as they reach the halfway mark of the season with a healthy 7-6 record (7-5 league) which was evident by their very solid win over a talented Arlington team on Tuesday evening at home, 73-61.
Junior Cam Lippie had a colossal night for Melrose with a 24 point double-double, and was aided with high scoring from Max Kirby (13) and Rob Colozzo (11) plus a slew of Red Raiders who fought tooth and nail against a very physical Arlington (5-6) team, and, at times the playing was simply grueling, but Melrose pulled to a quick lead of 12-3 early behind the shooting of Owen Dewey (9 pts) and Cam Lippie and rebounding of junior Ellis Davis (8 pts). Arlington would take brief leads of 16-15 and 21-19 despite back-to-back shots from Rob Colozzo and a trey by Davis, but Melrose tied it up 21-21 when freshman John Arens found Cam Lippie under the net for an equalizer. A Max Kirby three regained the lead for Melrose and Lippie would score twice to pull Melrose ahead 30-23 at the half.
In the third, the Red Raiders came out strong as Lippie continued to dominate with an 8-point stretch and Colozzo and John Arens both hit threes to pull Melrose ahead 48-41. In the fourth, Melrose maintained a lead of 55-47 with shots from Ellis Davis and Max Kirby and a wider 62-52 lead thanks to a crowd-pleasing dunk by Cam Lippie. Melrose was sent to the foul line often in the fourth and behind the work there of Rob Colozzo and Max Kirby, Melrose continued their smooth sailing. Kirby cleaned up on the foul line, going 4-4, to wrap up victory for Melrose, their 7th of the season.
The Red Raiders hope to make this a winning streak as they host Watertown on Friday at 5:00 p.m. The two teams met up in mid December and Melrose fell to the Raiders, 52-45.
Remaining Schedule (regular season)
Fri. Jan 28
5:00 PM v. Watertown
Tue Feb 1
5:00 PM v. Wakefield
Fri Feb 4
5:30 PM @ Burlington
Sun Feb 6
1:00 PM @ Lynnfield
Tue Feb 8
5:00 PM v. Wilmington
Fri Feb 11
5:00 PM v. Stoneham (Senior Night)
Tue Feb 15
7:00 PM v. Medford
