By TENZIN DORJEE
Senior captain Bryan Mitchell-Rodriguez proclaimed at the start of the season that the Malden High School boys basketball team would make a name for themselves. And made a name they did, especially against the teams of Brighton, Drury, Wakefield Memorial, Somerville, Medford, Beverly, and Everett high schools with heated, close games. Though, Malden also defeated Westfield Vocational Tech and completely demolished the Westfield-native Tigers, 70-38, leading the Golden Tornados to amass 9 wins so far in the season. They haven’t won only this season though, as the Malden High School team has unfortunately also collected 7 losses at the hands of Danvers, Cambridge Rindge & Latin (twice), Lynn Classical, Beverly, Medford, and Belmont.
The MHS boys varsity basketball team is a powerful group of 14 dedicated athletes led by senior captains Mitchell-Rodriguez, Loveng Francois, and junior captain Anthony Gilardi. The team is coached by the very capable and knowledgeable Don Nally. The team has done well this season under their precise leadership and has a record that any good team would be proud of as each win was well-earned, with all their hearts put into each game, and each loss learned from. The team has ‘battled through injuries,’ but they never let that stop them from going for their goal of “getting to the playoffs.”
The MHS boys varsity team was even invited to the TD Garden for the Good Sports Invitational. The Good Sports TD Garden 2014 Invitationals’ “inspiration was to create another opportunity for the TD Garden to be a valuable community partner [and help] provide young athletes with a truly unique experience,” and was hosted kindly by fellow Eastern Massachusetts high school, Newton South. The team was able to gain that valuable, precious, and rare experience whilst playing a hard match against Lynn Classical High School, a formidable opponent. It was a super close game of 55-51, Malden only losing by a measly 4 points. The win was locked for Lynn Classical when Malden received 2 more fouls towards the very end of the 4th quarter. Although the Malden team unfortunately lost to the Lynn-native team, it was a good experience and a great time for the players as it gave them the ability to have a feel for the astounding, world-renowned home of the Boston Celtics (and Bruins).
As the record so far stands at 9-7, the season progresses and the team hopes to collect more wins and gain more experiences, and hopefully someday “make it back to the Garden,” as captain Mitchell-Rodriguez put it. The coach and captains have high hopes for the rest of this season. With many skilled players and good teamwork and plays, the team can get far. For this determined team especially, ball truly is, life.
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