Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Down to a man, Dedham`s 7th grade Metrowest Basketball team stood silently on the court, staring in disbelief at the scoreboard. Their enchanted season had just come to an end.
Following a long, hard-fought, undefeated 12 week season, the boys had earned their way in to a 16 team, bracket-style playoff tournament. Their unblemished record however, came with a price. When the season began in December, the boys were assigned to play in Division III. By winning as many games as they had, the team was reviewed and “moved up” to play opponents from Division II in the playoffs. As in any sport, when you move up a Division, your competition becomes a little bit bigger, a little bit quicker, and assumedly a little bit better. On Sat. March 2, Dedham High School played host to all 8 games of the Division in the Tournament. As the day progressed, teams from around the area came and went. Dedham was scheduled to meet …
Monday, March 4, 2013
The Dedham 5th Grade Girls Metro West Travel Team had an incredible year. The ladies finished the regular season with a 9-2 record and entered the playoffs as a 3rd seed. They won their first playoff game 27-13 versus a stingy Mansfield Team. In the Quarter finals, they played the undefeated Wellesley Raiders. The Dedham ladies demonstrated great skill, toughness, and a never quit attitude, but fell short losing in double overtime 37-35. All of the fans, Wellesley and Dedham alike, coaches, and referees all commented that this was one of the best games they had ever seen and praised the Dedham Ladies for their skill, toughness, and class!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The end result was a 43-13 victory for Dedham, their twelfth win in a row.
They came from towns as far away as Southboro, Framingham, Weston, Ma. and Barrington, RI. They included the neighboring towns of Norwood, Westwood, Needham, and Newton. Week after week, since the beginning of December, teams of well-prepared 7th grade boys have faced Dedham's Metrowest Basketball Team. But this season, Coach John Maida's powerhouse proved too much for each and every one of their twelve opponents. On a raw and rainy Sunday morning, parents, coaches, and players, made the hour-long drive from Rhode Island to the Dedham High School gym. Due to injury and illness, only seven of Dedham's elite eleven players were available at game time. Veteran Coach John Maida knew exactly what he had to do, stay on top of his team. From …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Dedham beat Wellesley, 41-28. A couple of days later they went on to beat Ashland, 60-30.
Last week, even Mother Nature tried to get involved, and disrupt the momentum of the 7thgrade boys Dedham Metrowest Basketball team. As the Blizzard Nemo dumped almost 30 inches of snow on the region, all sporting events, like everything else in town, were cancelled. The boys sat idle for days. Then, without the benefit of practice or team meetings, they were scheduled for a game on Wednesday, after school, against a worthy opponent from Wellesley. Both teams got off to a slow start, with Dedham taking a 10-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. Wellesley kept within range, 24-15 at the half and 34-23 at the end of the third quarter. The usual starters contributed their share, with Liam Dorsey, Nick Loring, Ty Scurry, and Dylan Maida …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Dedham beat Westwood 52-41.
They say that in life, it all boils down to the “bottom line.” Competitive sports is no different, with “how many wins, how many losses, and how did you do?” being the frequently asked questions. In this world of “just cut to the chase” – quite often, how you got there gets lost in the shuffle. Often though, just reading the “statistics” doesn't really tell you the whole story… Coming in to last weekend's Metrowest Basketball game, Dedham (8-0) had to travel to nearby Westwood (3-5) for their away game. To many of us, this matchup appeared to be “just another game.” Dedham has averaged 52 points per game, while Westwood puts up an average of 39 points. Coaches however, see things differently than the rest of us. They know that certain …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
The Dedham Metrowest boys are now in sole possession of first place at 8-0 in the season.
The game stood tied at 57-57. There were four-tenths of a second left on the clock, and Dedham's Dylan Maida was standing on the free-throw line. Norwood had just committed a technical foul (too many men on the floor) and Dylan had been chosen by his teammates to take two shots… This was the end of one of the roughest, toughest, most physical basketball games we have ever had the opportunity of covering. All last week in practice, Dedham Coach John Maida realized the importance of this match-up, between the number one (Dedham 7-0) and the number two (Norwood 6-1) teams in the division. He worked his team hard, and believed that his boys were ready. From the opening buzzer, Dedham stepped up and took control of the game. As the Norwood …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Dedham beat Framingham 54-36.
To say that Dedham Coach John Maida was a little apprehensive, going in to last weekends game, would have been an understatement. When the season began a couple of months ago, Maida had narrowed down his search to 11 players, the best combination of talent available. With over 25 years of coaching under his belt, John Maida "saw something" in each of the boys that made up this 7th grade Metrowest Basketball Team. Each individual,brought their own talent to the team, and week after week they have proven to be unbeatable. Coach Maida has stressed though, that it has been their "teamwork" that has contributed to these victories. Facing an away game in Framingham, on a long holiday weekend, Coach Maida received some very unsettling news. His…
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Dedham beat Belmont 40-30, keeping them “undefeated” for the first half of the season.
It was bright and early last Sunday morning, as John Maida, his 7th grade boys basketball team, their parents, siblings and friends, began filing in to the gym at Dedham High School for the second of back to back home games. After many weeks of practice and five consecutive victories under their belts, the boys were scheduled to play a worthy group of opponents from Belmont. As the minutes wore on, we witnessed the lowest scoring first quarter of the season. The normally loud, supportive crowd sat silenced, as the squad from Belmont took a 13-10 lead in the 2nd quarter. With some adjustments to his lineup, the Dedham Metrowest boys inched ahead 17-15 at the half. Without the benefit of a locker room, John Maida called his team to the …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Dedham beat Newton 55-38.
One thing that we've learned from covering the local sports scene, is that no two weeks are alike. For the first three games of their season, John Maida's 7th grade boys scored an average of 53 points per game, while allowing their opponents an average of only 32 points. The league tucked in game 4 on the Sunday before Christmas, and the boys traveled to a beautiful gym at the Weston Middle School. Defense was the name of this game, but thanks to Dylan Maida's 10 points and 3 rebounds along with Ty Scurry's 9 points and 5 rebounds, our boys were able to hold off their peers from Weston and win the game by a score of 39-33. This past Sunday however, it was back to business as usual. The Metrowest boys returned to their home gym in a game…
Rick Millin
8:54 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Thanks Joe for the excellent coverage of Dedham's metrowest basketball team. i'm an uncle of the coach and one of the players living outside of Mass. Realy enjoyed the way you wrote up each game with naming each player. Hope you keep writing about youth sports. each week I waited for your report on the game to see how the it turned out for them. Dedham Metroboys PLAYERS should be proud of their … more ›