Malden Recreation Winter Youth Basketball League Championship games set for Saturday

Nearly 300 players participated in two competition leagues and one instructional group

By Steve Freker

Nearly 300 young basketball enthusiasts are participating in Malden Recreation Basketball leagues and instructional sessions (Grades 1-3) this winter. The players and leagues were under the director of Malden Recreation Director Joe Levine, Assistant Director Laura Perez and a staff of mostly volunteers.

“It’s been a great season featuring a lot of competition, a lot of teaching and learning and a lot of fun!” said Levine, a Malden High Golden Tornado Club Hall of Famer and former Malden High Varsity Girls Basketball Coach. “Our staff is fantastic, we could not do it without them.”

Playoffs are underway in the Al Locke League for players in Grades 6-7-8 and also in the Arthur P. Boyle League for players in Grades 4-5. In the A.P. Boyle League semifinals this past Saturday, March 1, #3 seed Wake Forest upset the top-seeded Georgetown team, 28-26, to advance to the 2025 Championship game.

Caleb Heyl led a balanced Wake Forest offense with 9 points. Lucca Guerreira scored 6 points and Jeffrey Cooper and Zion Mayne-Foster both scored 5 points. Curtis McCollin scored 1 point and Kushai Karmarcharga had 2 points. Also contributing for Wake Forest were Kaleab Heyi, Aiden Pimental and Nathaniel Yu. Wake Forest is coached by Peyton Carron, Chris Macdonald and Ryan McMahon.

For the Georgetown team, Kai Thou led them with 9 points; Desmond Smith scored 8 points; Kalil had 7 points and Amir Mohamed added 2 points. Also contributing for Georgetown were Xavier Broomfield, Lukas Contreras, Oliver Dutra, Zalnudeen Mossalam, Marcus Johnson and Messiah Vidal. Georgetown is coached by Mack Brunot.

In the other semifinal, Providence edged Louisville, 20-18. Jovanni Morris led Providence with 10 points; Diovel Figueroa and Jayden Swanstrom each scored 4 points, and Nicholas Luo scored 2 points. Also contributing to Coach Princeton Mathurin’s team win were Dominic Andrade-Villalta, Seamus Burow, Max Vo, Daniel Xie and Benjamin Roper.

Louisville was led by Owen Brett with 8 points; 6 points from Soufiane Riad; a bucket from Gemmy Rivera Fuentes and a free throw from Ezequiel F. Rohana. Also contributing for coaches Brendan Brett and Aidan Brett were Dinmukhamed Amanzhol, Allen Antoine, Rigsel Bhetsang, Sacario Long, James Melendez and Xavier Thomas.

In first round A.P. Boyle League single-elimination playoffs, Wake Forest topped UNC to advance to play #1 seed Georgetown. Louisville topped UNC and was scheduled to play #2 seed Providence.

In the Al Locke League semifinals round, the defending champs rolled past the Lakers, and the Spurs outlasted the Bulls. In Al Locke League action, the Celtics eliminated the Heat in round one and played #4 seed Lakers (winners over the Warriors). The Bulls topped the Pistons, and the Spurs knocked off the Thunder.

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Championship Finals games are Saturday, March 8. The A.P. Boyle League title game features #2 seed Providence vs. #3 seed Wake Forest at 11:30 p.m. The Al Locke League title game is #1 seed Celtics vs. #2 seed Spurs at 12:30 p.m. ALL GAMES are played at Salemwood School, Malden.