Warrior boys’ basketball rolls past rival Melrose 83-42

DE’ARI BURTON had 20 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals in Wakefield’s 41-point victory over rival Melrose on Friday night. (File Photo)

By TYM BROWN

WAKEFIELD — For the second game of the Wakefield vs. Melrose basketball double-header on Friday at the Charbonneau Field House, the Warrior boys’ team nearly doubled their opponents’ scoring total in an 83-42 victory. 

Senior captains De’Ari Burton (20 pts) and Connor Mauriot (15 pts) led the scoring with a pair of double-doubles from junior Matt Beaver (13 pts, 10 rebs) and sophomore Jack Millward (11 pts, 10 reb) in support.

From the very beginning, the Warriors had full control of this game. Burton started off with a 3 on the opening possession from straightaway. Millward hit a mid range jumper after a missed layup from Melrose and then got an easy layup off of a steal and assist by Burton. This 7-0 run forced the visitors to take a timeout just one minute into the game, which elated the enormous Wakefield crowd. 

The Warriors doubled their lead before giving up their first points of the game with a mid range jumper from Melrose junior John Arens. Mauriot responded to this with a mid range and 3-pointer on succeeding possessions. The senior’s bench impact continued to be felt as he hit another back-breaking 3 that bounced high off the rim three times before going through. 

“The ball got swung to me and I made it,” said Mauriot after his career-high scoring night. “I was confident in my shot.” 

This approach of confidence was shown throughout the whole Wakefield team as they ended the first quarter up 30-6.

The second quarter was much of the same story as the host team continued to relentlessly build up their lead. The Warriors did a great job of sharing the ball in this quarter, at one point going on a 17-2 run with an assist on all seven made baskets in that stretch. As the lead expanded to 37 points for Wakefield, head coach Colin Halpin expanded his bench rotation, allowing some players to get their first varsity minutes of the season. Notably, at the end of the quarter, sophomore Dylan McDermott scored his first varsity points on a putback layup to put the score at 51-20 at halftime.

The third quarter was once again pure domination for Wakefield. 

This time, it was Burton leading the charge with 11 points in the quarter, which matched how much the entire Melrose team put up. 

“We work hard in practice, it’s all a team effort,” Burton unselfishly said. “I told coach I might be the main target during all of these games, but I’m still going to kick it out to my teammates so they can get some buckets.” 

The Warrior sharpshooter got subbed out of the game along with the rest of the starting lineup with two minutes left in the third quarter with the lead up to 40 points for Wakefield. 

Sophomore William Forbes’ free throw line jumpshot closed the quarter with his first varsity points to put the score at 72-31.

The Warrior bench unit cruised through the final quarter as junior Kevin DeGray, junior Sean O’Rourke and sophomore Aden Stevenson all put in their first varsity points to keep pace with Melrose and seal the win.

The Warriors’ head coach talked about how his team was able to take and keep control of this contest all the way through. 

“Honestly, we made some hard shots early on in that first quarter. I think when you see tough shots fall early in a game like that, it kind of just sets a tone,” explained Halpin. “From there, we just had great energy, we played defense, all the little things that we talked about, we did a pretty good job of.”

After successfully defending home court for the first two games of the year, the 2-0 Warriors will travel to Woburn tonight at 7 p.m. to face the 1-1 Tanners. Woburn beat Stoneham 54-46 in the opener and fell to Lexington 75-61 on Friday night. The Warriors beat the Tanners 70-47 in their only matchup last season.