Malden: Now in his 9th season as varsity coach of the Malden High School boys' basketball team, Don Nally still has many goals and achievements he wishes to achieve.  Last night, he checked another one off his list as his team completed their first ever season sweep of GBL nemesis Somerville, 72-63 at the Finn Gym.  The win improves the Tornadoes to 7-4 overall and 2-3 in the league with still an outside shot at capturing the league title with three more home games against league rivals.

"This was an important win for our program." Nally noted in the victorious locker room.  "We have always had a hard time with Somerville.  They have tough kids who play hard and aggressive and take it right to you.  I was proud of the way our kids met the challenge tonight and took it right back at them."

Somerville coming off an embarrassing 32 point home loss to the Tornadoes in their previous meeting, came off the bus ready to play.  After falling behind 9-4 early, Malden was quickly able to right the ship.  The Tornadoes closed the quarter strong nailing three long range shots to take a 21-15 lead into the 2nd quarter.  Nally employed a new starting lineup for this game, inserting 6'2" Lavenge Francois as the team's point guard.  Francois' addition to the lineup gave the Tornadoes a six footer at every position, creating mismatches on offense and long arms in the passing lanes on defense.  By halftime, the Malden lead was just four, 36-32, but Nally liked the direction his team was heading.

"I told them at halftime that we were definitely playing Malden basketball." Nally said. "We were able to play a lot of man to man defense, contain their drives to the basket and we just needed to continue to push the pace offensively. I thought Lavenge did an excellent job of that all game, keeping us in a flow."

In just his second game as the starting point guard, Francois would score 10 points, dish out 3 assists and corral 3 rebounds while running the Tornado attack.  The primary beneficiaries of Francois' creativity were senior co-captain Rodney Morton who finished with 22 points and sophomore forward Anthony Gilardi who had 26 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

"Coach just wanted us to attack them and not settle for jump shots." Francois said after the game. "Rodney was able to get a lot of good looks, especially in the second half and Anthony was really a force inside."

With the win, Malden can now focus on Tuesday's opponent, Everett High School.  Everett heads to the game on the heels of a big road win at Cambridge Friday night that gives them sole possession of the GBL lead at 4-1.  The Crimson Tide beat Malden by 9 points at Everett in a state tournament like atmosphere with a raucious crowd representing both schools.  Expect more of the same this Tuesday night when the Tornadoes host Everett.  Game time is set for 7pm.