By JENNIFER GENTILE

Published January 24, 2020

MELROSE—The Melrose High girls hoop team is determined to turn things around after a week in which a lot of things went wrong. Melrose is now on a 5-game losing streak after dropping some critical league games, including Freedom rivals Wilmington and a winless Stoneham Spartan team on Tuesday.   

KIRA MATÉ and the Melrose High girls hoop team look to pick up a win this Friday against Watertown. (Jeff Maté photo)

The Wilmington game, played last Friday night in Melrose, was not without its highlights. Melrose junior Adriana Centrella took command offensively, leading in scoring with 14 points, while Melrose freshman Chloe Gentile showed promise with 8 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. Still, the Wildcats took a lead of 11-4 at the end of the first and never looked back, playing an aggressive game that saw a few Lady Raiders head to the bench with bumps and bruises. Despite two baskets from Adriana Centrella and a Gentile layup at the buzzer, Melrose remained down 26-15 at the half. In the second half, Melrose enjoyed a variety of scoring from Jenna Champagne, Gia Vlajkovic and Maggie Sullivan, but ultimately Wilmington’s Kylie DuCharme and Jenna Tavanese proved too much and helped the Wildcats claw their way to a 52-38 victory.

It was about the same when they headed to Stoneham on Tuesday evening to host the (1-8) Spartans. In what would normally be considered a winnable game, Melrose struggled at the onset, with a series of missed shots, misfired passes and too many lost rebound opportunities. In the first half, Melrose’s Chloe Halligan returned to the court with 4 points and Gia Vlajkovic had 4 as well, but Melrose’s defense didn’t rise to the occasion and fell victim to three-pointers from Stoneham’s Guliana Carpenteiri (12 pts) In the second half, Melrose’s Olivia Scarpa hit a three to keep things interesting and some solid foul shooting by Mary Kate Mahoney and Jenna Champagne added to the point total, but Melrose lacked the confidence and pep needed against the beatable Spartans and fell, 41-24.

At 4-7, Melrose hopes to begin a winning streak that will help them make a run at playoff qualification. Tonight, they can right the ship against the visiting Watertown Raiders who Melrose will host at 5:15 p.m. 

Freedom League Standings

Team      League      All 

Burlington   7-3      9-3 

Wilmington 6-3      6-3 

Wakefield   6-3      6-6 

Melrose      3-6      4-7 

Watertown  2-6      4-7 

Stoneham  1-8      1-9