McMAHON STOLE THE BALL! Malden sticks up Medford in OT, 58-55

Tornado boys basketball team makes Senior Night memorable with solid win

By Steve Freker

  If only Johnny Most could have been there! Only the real Old-Timers can agree with that ancient Celtics reference to the iconic radio announcer who made John Havlicek and Dennis “DJ” Johnson famous (Bird, too!).

But one of the most memorable “(Fill in the blank) STOLE THE BALL!” moments in Malden High basketball history will be the one that occurred Thursday night at the MHS Roy Finn Gym. Down by a point, 57-56, with 7.8 seconds to play in overtime, Medford went to inbound the ball from its far end, hoping for a last-ditch, one shot attempt to maybe win the game. Arguably, that 7.8 seconds is plenty of time to get the ball upcourt quickly and either heave up a three or perhaps just make it to the rim for a potential game-winning layup. But then, in a flash of some of the most enterprising defense Malden has seen all season, the visiting Mustangs ended up with a whole bunch of nothing. Nada. Zero.

The pass went into the court, followed by a split second skirmish… but “McMAHON STOLE THE BALL!” Senior captain Ryan McMahon made the defensive play of the year — and his Tornado basketball career — when he stepped in, yanked the ball free and then wrenched it away from the Medford guard.

McMahon then dribbled three and was fouled with just three seconds left on the clock. The Tornado senior captain (15 points) then calmly hit both free throws to make it 58-55, and Medford could not ever get another shot off.

McMahon’s 15 points matched his season high, but he was equally adept at dishing on this night, registering a rare high school “double-double,” as he also shared the ball all night with 10 assists. The Malden senior also went “Iron Man” in this night, playing all 36 minutes — four quarters and then one OT period — one of the few Tornado players in basketball annals to pull off that feat.

Malden also got a big night out of another senior captain, 6-4 captain Kaua Fernandes Dias Valadares. Fernandes poured in a season and career-high 24 points. In another “when was the last time you saw this” moment, Fernandes hauled in 13 rebounds — another “double-double” in the stats. We have no idea when was the last time a Malden team had TWO “double-double” players in the same game.

It was all quite appropriate for their seniors to shine, as it was indeed “Senior Night,” where they were honored before their final home game and certainly showed out in their final outing before a home crowd. Besides McMahon and Fernandes, the two other senior starters recognized were 5-9 guard Chace Bolling, a first-year varsity played who battled his way into the starting lineup four games ago, and 6-3 senior captain and forward Colin Okoth, a regular starter who put up nine points in his final home game.

Malden broke a four-game loss streak and actually kept slim postseason hopes alive, with a 4-10 overall record, 3-9 in the Greater Boston League, The Tornados would have to win out, of course, but still do-able mathematically.

Heading into Sunday’s planned road trip to Arlington to take on the non-league AC Cougars, the Tornados needed that win and five more to finish the season. Unfortunately, despite a spirited, career-high 26 points from Malden senior Chace Bolling, Malden met the same fate as the Patriots, stumbling in a 59-53 loss to the hosts. That put Malden’s record at 4-11 overall, statistically now out of the needed .500 minimum winning percentage possibility with five games left on the slate.

Malden and Medford fought it out close in the first three quarters, neither team really able to pull away, with the Tornados leading at each juncture: 11-9 after one quarter, 23-20 at halftime and extending its lead to 38-33 at the end of the third. Malden went up by 10 early in the fourth quarter, 44-34, with a quick 6-1 run, but Medford hunkered down and fought back to tie the game with less than three minutes to play, then taking the lead, briefly (49-48) with 2:01 left on the clock. Malden trailed for most of the rest before a Fernandes offensive rebound and putback off the glass tied the game at 50-50, sending it into overtime. Overtime resumed the end-to-end defensive dogfight between the two league rivals, with “McMahon Stole the Ball!” finishing the game off in style.

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Malden’s road trip to Lynn English was cancelled due to Tuesday’s storm and rescheduled to Wednesday night (after Advocate press time). After the Lynn English game on Wednesday, Malden will play on the road today at 5:30 p.m. at Northeast Metro Tech, then compete in the Annual Jake & Joe’s Tournament on Monday and Tuesday, February 16-17. Malden plays host Waltham on Monday at 7:00 p.m.

Consolation and championship games are next Tuesday. The Tornados will close out their season next Thursday, February 19, on the road at Chelsea High at 2:00 p.m.