Medford boys basketball team hands Malden a 60-40 loss

Tornados fade in second half as Malden still seeking first win

By Steve Freker

Malden High versus Medford High in anything is always a battle. On Wednesday night, January 8, it was no different, as the two teams battled it out for most of the night before Malden got cold in the second half and fell, 60-40.

Who knew that the two football quarterbacks from this past Thanksgiving Day, Malden High senior Aidan Brett and Medford senior Justin Marino, would be reunited again and be going at it in another sport. Both guys ended up being the high scorers for their respective teams as well, with Marino lighting up Malden’s Finn Gym with 25 points, 14 in the second half.

Brett led Malden with 14 points, a season-high in his first start of the year. Malden junior center Kaua Fernandes Dias scored 12 points for the Tornados, the third straight game he has been in double figures. Only three other Malden players scored: junior De’Shawn Bunch with 6 points, junior Colin Okoth with 5 points and senior Wyatt Dessert with 3 points.

Malden trailed 10-9 after the first quarter and stayed close at the halftime break, down just 26-22. Brett kept Malden in it with two “threes” in the second quarter. The home team got close to as cold as the outside temperature in the second half, only generating five baskets total in the second half.

Malden stayed winless at 0-9 with the loss, 0-6 in the Greater Boston League. Medford went in the other direction with the win: over .500 for the first time this season at 4-3 overall. With the win Medford completed an early season series sweep of Malden, having dispatched the Tornados, 54-31 at home two weeks ago.

The road gets no easier for Malden with three straight road games ahead – at Everett next Tuesday, January 14, at Somerville on Thursday, January 16 and then at Lynn Classical on Tuesday, January 21 – before returning home in two weeks for a Saturday, January 25 game versus Revere at 1:00 p.m.