Melrose Seventh Grade Lady Raiders Earn Two Championships

Photo 1 caption: Seventh grade Lady Raiders. Front Row: (L-R) Grace Davis, Maggie Sullivan, Jen Connolly, Alianna Taitano, Chloe Halligan. Back Row: (L-R) Coach Ralph LaBella, Nicole Abbott, Erin Torpey, Olivia Scarpa, Mary-Kate Mahoney, Emma Randolph, Kelsey Sullivan, Coach Ron Sen.

Photo 2 caption: Sixth grade Lady Raiders. Front Row: (L-R) Lizzie Mullane, Meghan Fogarty, Deirdre Flanagan, Haley Smith, Kira Maté, Zoe Overlan. Back Row: (L-R) Randi Sullivan, Emily hudson, Paige Rocha, Sam Dewey, Leah Heafey, Caroline Kiernan, Coach Ron Sen.

Melrose seventh grade Lady Raiders know that seconds count -- especially on the basketball court.

With 1.6 seconds left in the game, Melrose was tied with Westwood at 38-38 with the MetroWest seventh grade league championship on the line. Erin Torpey, who already put six points on the board for Melrose, stepped to the foul line for one last shot and sank her free throw to secure the latest championship for the Melrose Lady Raider basketball program.

The Metro West Basketball league is one of the largest and strongest leagues in the state comprised of teams throughout Massachusetts. After a bruising season schedule, Melrose had to battle through three playoff games before reaching the championship round on March 15.

The Lady Raiders started their championship run defeating Watertown 54-22. Mary-Kate Mahoney scored 13 points for the victors and Olivia Scarpa cashed in for nine second half points.

In the second round, Melrose continued its domination knocking Sudbury out of the playoffs with a 34-19 victory. Mahoney led the scoring with 13 points followed by Jen Connolly with six points. Nicole Abbott and Grace Davis continued to be strong defensive forces for Melrose in the playoffs as they held the big scorers from Watertown and Sudbury to just a few points.

Melrose faced a strong offensive Medway team in the semi-final round grinding out a 44-37 win. Torpey and Mahoney netted 31 of Melrose’s 44 points with Emma Randolph hitting for five important points in the first half pulling the Lady Raiders into the lead. Alianna Taitano was strong off the boards for Melrose pulling down eight rebounds for the Lady Raiders while Kelsey Sullivan helped hold Medway’s big scoring threat, Sara White, to just eight points placing Melrose into the championship round against high scoring Westwood.

Westwood jumped out quickly in the final round and built their lead to a commanding 24-16 score in the third quarter. With the game slipping away, Mahoney helped the Lady Raiders roar back scoring eight points in less than a minute to tie the game at 24-24. Maggie Sullivan helped ignite the Melrose offense scoring nine points in the second half including three important free throws in the last few minutes of the game. Chloe Halligan chipped in two points in the second half for Melrose while helping to shut down the Westwood offense around the basket grabbing numerous rebounds for Melrose. This set the stage for Torpey.

With eight seconds to play, Torpey took an outlet pass from Maggie Sullivan, drove the court and took a shot from the right side of the floor. The ball hit the rim and bounced back to Torpey who was fouled on the put back shot. With four quarters of battle behind them--both teams watched as Torpey slipped the ball through the rim for the win and championship.

Weeks earlier, the Melrose seventh grade Lady Raiders captured another championship as they defeated all opponents in the Eastern League Tournament of Champions held February 16-20 at the Higgins Middle School in Peabody. The first game placed Melrose against a seventh grade AAU team out of the Evolution basketball program in Woburn. The Lady Raiders took off early in the game with sharp passing and quick scoring recording a 45-26 victory. Torpey hit for 13 points while Maggie Sullivan had eight points, Mahoney added seven and Taitano put six points on the board for the winners. Jenna Tavanese scored 16 of the Evolution’s 26 points.

In the second round, Melrose topped Danvers 34-14. Maggie Sullivan ignited the Lady Raiders with 10 points and was helped by Halligan’s four points and tough play under the boards. Scarpa, Davis and Kelsey Sullivan played tough defense that helped limit Danversto just 14 points.

Melrose moved on to the semi-final round facing Our Lady of Assumption from Lynnfield. Connolly topped the scoring sheet for Melrose with 14 points while Torpey scored 13. Abbott and Randolph played strong defense for the Lady Raiders in the 43-22 win.

The championship round was a rematch of the previous game with Melrose facing Our Lady of Assumption. OLA came to play in the final game, but fell short as Melrose captured the championship with a 35-32 victory. Halligan helped bring victory to the Lady Raiders with a strong eight point performance followed by Mahoney’s seven points. Davis and Connolly chipped in six points each for the champs.

The Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle Schoolseventh grade Lady Raider team is coached by Ralph LaBella and Ron Sen.

Sen also led the sixth grade middle school team to the River Valley league championship. The sixth grade team swept the championship weekend beating teams from Timberlane, Dracut and Peabody. In the championship game, Leah Heafey led the scoring with 14 points followed by Samantha Dewey and Kira Mate both placing 10 points each on the scoreboard for the 38-29 victory.