Francois and Morton Lead Boys Hoop Rally in Losing Effort Against Medford

No matter what the standings say, no matter what the won-loss records indicate, when Malden High and Medford High play each other, no matter what the sport, it’s always a knock-down, drag-out battle and one of the biggest games of the year for both schools.

That was the case last night at Roy G. Finn Gymnasium, as the Greater Boston League arch rivals proved how much they wanted the border-war triumph by conspiring to produce a thrilling contest that went right down to the wire before ultimately being settled at the free throw line, with the Mustangs emerging with a 72-67 win—a victory that brings them to within striking distance of a trip to the MIAA North Sectionals.

Senior Teddy Francois became Malden High’s all-time leading pickpocket during the loss, collecting his record-setting 52d steal moments before the buzzer sounded at halftime. Francois ended the game with five steals, establishing the new Malden High mark at 56—most likely, only until the Golden Tornadoes’ next outing.

The 4-11 Golden Tornadoes were led by Francois, who logged 20 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, while Rodney Morton chipped in with 19 points—17 of which came during the second half. Witchie Exilhomme—playing his first season of organized basketball—contributed an impressive performance with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Ryan Donovan collected nine points as well.

The Mustangs were paced by Sean Doncaster and Maurice Magras, who posted 19 and 17 points respectively.

Trailing 63-56 with 1:42 left to play, Morton (12 fourth-quarter points) converted a layup. Exilhomme sniped the inbounds pass and did the same, getting fouled in the process.

A few moments later, it was Francois who pulled out a three-point play of his own and Medford’s lead had ebbed all the way down to 65-64. After forcing a Medford turnover, Donovan was fouled and hit one of his two free throws, tying the score with 1:03 in the game.

A pair of poorly-timed fouls sent Doncaster and Keating to the free throw line, and both Mustangs converted their free throws, giving Medford a 69-65 lead. After Francois missed a pair, and Magras went two-for-two making it 71-65 with just over 20 seconds to play, the die was cast, and the Mustangs held on to win  the closely contested GBL matchup.

“Obviously the kids really came to play,” said Malden High head coach Don Nally. “It’s Malden versus Medford; you throw the records out the window, it’s about pride.”

Doncaster collected 11 of his points during the fourth quarter as Medford went a combined 12-for-15 from the free-throw line down the stretch, while the Golden Tornadoes shot a paltry 3-of-8 from the charity stripe during the final frame.

“I went with a closing group of guys we have who are good free-throw shooters,” said Medford head coach Anthony Faradie. “We figured out how to pull it out...we’ll take it.”

Maurice Magras and Larry Keating were both 4-for-4 from the line in the fourth, while Doncaster was 3-of-4.

“All in all,” said Nally. “I think if we could have knocked down those free-throws late in the game, we might have been smiling right now.”

These two teams played just six days earlier, on Feb. 11, with Medford (8-9) running out with a 74-54 win, and after the Mustangs jumped out to an early 11-4 lead last night, it appeared they were poised to repeat their performance. That feeling was brief however, as Malden recovered quickly and went into halftime down just 26-23.

“We came out sluggish,” said Faradie. “We missed some easy shots, they’ve got some tight rims here ... it’s not an easy gym to shoot in.”

Malden was hurt early on by the withering full-court press that has become a staple of the Mustangs game this season, but created some turnovers of their own as well. 

“We made an adjustment at halftime, which was huge,” said Nally. “They really do come at you fast...we knew what to expect with them.”

Another reason for Malden’s success against the Mustangs defense: Matt Howe.

“I thought he came in and was one of the reasons we were able to break the press so easily, “ said Nally. “He was very patient with the ball, using the skip pass...he really gave a great effort for us tonight.”

Morton and Francois teamed up to collect 7 steals on the game, helping Malden take it down to the end.

“The problem was that we turned the ball over too much,” said Faradie. “I think we caused enough, we just gave it back too many times.”