Melrose goes 5-1 in two weeks; including Burlington thriller
T’MAHRI MERCER’S thirty one points helped lift the Melrose Red Raider basketball team over rival Burlington last Friday night, 62-59. On Tuesday, Melrose fell to rival Wakefield, 50-40. (Steve Karampalas photo)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The red-hot Melrose Red Raider basketball team is riding a 5 game winning streak thanks to a string of league victory last week, including back to back wins over Wilmington and Burlington. Melrose currently sits on top of the Middlesex Freedom League at 6-2 as the halfway part of season approaches.
Their winning stretch began on Friday, Dec. 30 when Melrose hosted Lynnfield and enjoyed a 61-38 win over the Pioneers. Senior captain T’Mahri Mercer was on a tear, tallying 22 points with seven assists and three steals while senior captain Sean Prendergast added 10 points and 8 rebounds to help seal victory.
Melrose followed that victory up with a resounding 60-35 victory over Wilmington on Tuesday, January 3. Sean Prendergast had 12 points against Wilmington and Melrose enjoyed a share of offensive contributions from players Franz Pierrot, Dylan Vienot and Avery Davis.
But it was last Friday night’s road battle with Burlington that proved to be a real thriller. Melrose took the victory 62-59. T’Mahri Mercer finished the down-to-the-wire game with a massive 31 points. Burlington took the initial edge in the first, taking a lead of 13-9 before Melrose reversed course, thanks to shooting from Mercer. Melrose took a lead at the end of the first thanks to a Joe Stanton 3-pointer for a 20-15 Melrose lead. By the third quarter Melrose was up15-points before Burlington made it a game, taking the lead with three minutes to go, 57-56. But Melrose shooters turned hot and outscored the Red Devils in the final frame. Melrose’s Sean Donovan (8 pts.) hit a shot with less than 2 minutes to go to put Melrose up 58-57,while Burlington’s Mike Demartinis hit two foul shots to give the Red Devils a 59-58 lead. T’Mahri Mercer’s basket helped extend the Melrose lead to three with 20 seconds to go. Melrose forced a turnover to end the contest for their fifth straight win of the season.
The bubble burst, however, on Tuesday when Melrose hosted a competitive Wakefield team and fell, 50-40. John Evangelista and Andrew Miller combined for 22 points for Wakefield and five three pointers that took the game out of Melrose’s hands in the third quarter after Melrose 18-10 halftime advantage. Wakefield outscored Melrose 18-5 in the third to take a lead of 34-30 by quarter’s end, and Melrose never regained the lead. T’Mahri Mercer led Melrose on offense with 13 points along with Frantz Pierrot and Sean Donovan with 8 a piece.
Melrose looks to rebound when they host Watertown this Friday at 7:00 p.m. in a key ML Freedom game.
Middlesex Freedom League Standings
League Overall
Watertown 5-1 6-1
Melrose 4-2 6-2
Stoneham 2-2 4-2
Wakefield 2-4 2-4
Wilmington 1-5 1-6
Burlington 0-4 0-4
