Scocca Drops 26 as Red Raiders End Season on High Note

In his final game before the home fans at Marcoux Gymnasium, senior center Andrew Scocca gave Red Raiders supporters a little something to remember him by.

Scocca scored 26 points and collected 10 boards as Melrose wrapped up its season with a solid 55-38 victory over non-league opponents Tewksbury High from the Merrimack Valley Conference small school division. Sophomore Matt Sherlock also chipped in with 17 points for the Red Raiders, while they held the Redmen without a single scorer in double figures on the night.

The Redmen were paced by senior Sean Gorman’s 9 points.

After going 2-6 to open the season, Melrose finished 9-3, and are without question playing their best basketball of the season with the tournament looming on the horizon.

“We just wanted to come out and take care of business,” Scocca said. “We did that.”

Melrose finishes at 11-9, with the program’s first trip to the MIAA North Sectionals since 2000 securely in the bag, while Tewksbury’s difficult season ends at 2-18.

“Sometimes these games are trap games,” Melrose head coach Mike Kasprzak said. “We played a little sloppy in the first quarter, but when we had to, we buckled down.”

Tewksbury managed to keep things close early on, trailing just 13-10 after the opening stanza, but by halftime, the Red Raiders had stretched their lead to 28-18, and would allow the opposition to get no closer.

“(Melrose) is playing really well,” Tewksbury head coach Jim Sullivan said. “(Scocca) is a really good player. He was too much for us to handle tonight.

“We came out and played well in the first quarter ... unfortunately, we couldn’t keep them out of the lane, and they were able to get the ball inside.”

Scocca drew a persistent double team all night, and this enabled the Red Raiders to capitalize on the open looks created by the extra attention commanded down low. Sherlock was the key beneficiary of this scenario, as the lion’s share of his 17 points came from outside shooting.

The third quarter saw Scocca completely take over the game, scoring 13 of the 15 points credited to Melrose in the frame, while his supporting cast held Tewksbury to 9 points in the third, following the 8 allowed in the second quarter.

“One guy who played particularly well was Denzel Jones,” Kasprzak said. “He had a lot of energy tonight ... Nate Trippe played very well on defense also ... he’s usually an offensive guy, but he got it done on defense tonight.”

The Red Raiders had little trouble the rest of the way, coasting to victory, and will now head into postseason play with a bonafide head of steam on its shoulders. Tewksbury on the other hand, closes the book on a season that has been nothing if not trying. Sullivan credits his senior leadership with holding the squad together during the rigors of a 2-18 campaign.

“Our seniors are troopers for us,” he said. “They’re great leaders and they set good examples for us every day. Joe Hulme, Sean Gorman and Craig Semenza, they’re all really close to my heart. I’m going to miss those guys; I wish we could have had a better season for them this year.”

Melrose, while unsure exactly who they will face in the tournament, will now set to the task of preparing for any eventuality. 

“We have no idea who we are going to play, but we do have teams to scout," Kasprzak said. "We have 5 or 6 teams we are going to look at in the next few days ... we’re trying to be prepared for anything.

“There’s one team we really don’t want to play. New Mission, but nobody wants to play them.”

The way the Red Raiders have been hitting on all cylinders lately, a few teams may be saying that about them.

“We’re going to be a tough out for teams in the tournament,” Scocca said. “We’ve really come together as a team.”