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Health & Fitness

Melrose Slips by Dedham`s Metrowest Boys …

 Down to a man, the feeling was unanimous. Just one more play, just 10 more seconds, and the ballgame would have been theirs…

 Two hours earlier, Dedham`s Davin Sweeney (out indefinitely with a back injury) walked in to the main gym at Dedham High School. The veteran Metrowest Basketball player`s presence – even though not in uniform – was an inspiration to some of his newer teammates. Last year`s “undefeated” team had recently lost their last two games, and playing without their big man hasn`t been easy.

 To add to their “woes”, their captain, Dylan Maida (who saw limited playing time due to a bone chip suffered in his previous game) was sitting on the bench taping his left hand. As the local boys went through their drills, a “wave” of boys from Melrose, clad in red and ranging in height from 5’2” – 6’2” entered their gym. Things certainly didn`t look good for the local team. Sweeney reminded his teammates to let last week`s loss go, and to focus on the game in front of them.

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 As the stands filled, 5’8” Corey Kilroy won the “tip off” against the 6’2” center from Melrose and got the crowd involved from the start. It was Dedham`s 3point shooting (Liam Dorsey, David Logan and Kyle Micciche) however, that gave the local boys an 11-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.

 The 2nd quarter saw Liam Dorsey (shut out the last 2 weeks) on fire, drilling another pair of “threes.” Dorsey (17pts – 2 rebounds – 3 assists – 2 steals) had the help of his wing man, Nick Loring (5pts – 10 rebounds – 2 assists – 1 steal) most of the quarter. Dedham held on to a 5point lead, 23-18 at the half.

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 The second half of this game turned in to a very tight, foul-laden, defensive battle. David Logan (7pts – 1 rebound – 1 steal), along with Corey Kilroy (2pts – 6 rebounds – 1 assist – 1steal) and Brandon Ruiz (3 pts – 5 rebounds – 2 assists – 2 steals) all had a very good game. Brian Tavares, fouled hard in the first half, came back in the second and contributed some quality minutes, netting him a point and a rebound.

 It was the newly acquired Kyle Micciche ( 3pts – 2 rebounds – 1 assist – 1 steal) and Dan Labadini (1pt – 1 steal) that helped the team`s starters. Mark Rella showed some good hustle, stealing the ball and playing a good defensive quarter. Melrose played hard though and tied the game 29-29 with 40 seconds remaining in the third.

 Melrose opened up a 38-33 lead with 2 minutes left in the game. The stands erupted, when Nick Loring and Liam Dorsey each hit threes, giving Dedham a 39-38 lead with 30 seconds to go. Melrose answered with a basket of their own, taking a 40-39 lead over Dedham.

 With 7 seconds left on the clock, Dedham star, Liam Dorsey, drove down the court and took his shot, bouncing off the rim as the buzzer sounded. Melrose had won, 40-39.

 After the game, we spoke with Dedham Coach John Maida. We asked Maida what he thought… After a moment to put his thoughts together, Coach Maida told us “we`ve been in every game this year, either leading or down by a basket late in the fourth.”  Maida went on to say, “despite being 1-4, we could easily have been 4-1 or 5-0.” “I am very proud of these guys, they`re a good group of boys and it`s really starting to come together.” “I knew it wasn`t going to be easy this year (moving up to Division 2) and we have to do a better job focusing in key points in the game.” Keeping the injuries in mind, Maida told us that “this has been a good life-lesson for all of them…”

 This Sunday, the boys travel to North Quincy, to play a team that scored over 80 points in their game last week.

Story and Photos by: Joe Kilroy





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