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Subscribe to our NewsletterFebruary 1, 2012
Lexington: Baby steps, that is what the Malden High School Boys' basketball program needs to take after their recent skid dropped their record to .500 for the first time this season. The first small step was accomplished Wednesday night with a 64-51 victory over Minuteman Tech. With the win, the team improves to 7-6 on the season and just three wins shy of an automatic birth into the State Tournament. The Tornadoes used a balanced attack to stop Minuteman, with four players scoring in double digits. Junior guard Terrance Maisonneuve led the way with 15 points, followed by tri-captain Rodney Morton's 13 points, 11 points from tri-captain Witche Exilhomme and 10 points to go along with 10 rebounds from junior forward Jason Surpris.
"We definitely needed this win tonight." Head Coach Don Nally told the Malden Evening News after the game. "We have gone through a rough patch but we need to tighten things up at both ends of the floor if we want to make a run at the State Tournament."
Malden started off sluggishly on defense, allowing Minuteman to score 19 points in the first quarter to take a slim 20-19 lead after one quarter. The Tornadoes defense clamped down after that, holding the Minutemen to 9, 9 and then 14 points in the final three quarters. Surpris led the way with a team-high 3 blocks to go along with his 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward Bryan Mitchell also came up big on the defensive end with 2 steals and a blocked shot. After shooting under 30% each of the last two games, Malden was much more efficient inside the 3pt arc, shooting 47% from the floor and hitting a season-high 22 shots inside the paint.
"We made much more of a commitment to get the ball inside tonight, knowing we had the size advantage." Nally noted. "I thought both Witche and Jason established a presence inside and made life easier for our outside guys to have much more spacing on the floor. We need to carry over tonight's offensive commitment into Friday night's game at Somerville."
Friday night's game looms big for the Tornadoes as they look to rebound from an earlier 18 point home loss to the Highlanders. Following Somerville's loss to Medford on Tuesday night, a win at Somerville would put Malden back in the hunt for the GBL title. For now though, the team looks to continue taking baby steps, rather than giant leaps.
"We got the win tonight, and now we just have to turn the page and get ready for Friday night's game at Somerville." Nally said. "We realize that we really have to take things one game at a time and not get ahead of ourselves. Hopefully, Friday night, we'll have the intensity necessary to meet the challenge."
Game time on Friday night is 7:00pm.
"We definitely needed this win tonight." Head Coach Don Nally told the Malden Evening News after the game. "We have gone through a rough patch but we need to tighten things up at both ends of the floor if we want to make a run at the State Tournament."
Malden started off sluggishly on defense, allowing Minuteman to score 19 points in the first quarter to take a slim 20-19 lead after one quarter. The Tornadoes defense clamped down after that, holding the Minutemen to 9, 9 and then 14 points in the final three quarters. Surpris led the way with a team-high 3 blocks to go along with his 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward Bryan Mitchell also came up big on the defensive end with 2 steals and a blocked shot. After shooting under 30% each of the last two games, Malden was much more efficient inside the 3pt arc, shooting 47% from the floor and hitting a season-high 22 shots inside the paint.
"We made much more of a commitment to get the ball inside tonight, knowing we had the size advantage." Nally noted. "I thought both Witche and Jason established a presence inside and made life easier for our outside guys to have much more spacing on the floor. We need to carry over tonight's offensive commitment into Friday night's game at Somerville."
Friday night's game looms big for the Tornadoes as they look to rebound from an earlier 18 point home loss to the Highlanders. Following Somerville's loss to Medford on Tuesday night, a win at Somerville would put Malden back in the hunt for the GBL title. For now though, the team looks to continue taking baby steps, rather than giant leaps.
"We got the win tonight, and now we just have to turn the page and get ready for Friday night's game at Somerville." Nally said. "We realize that we really have to take things one game at a time and not get ahead of ourselves. Hopefully, Friday night, we'll have the intensity necessary to meet the challenge."
Game time on Friday night is 7:00pm.
