Wilmington Cagers Earn (A Piece Of) Cape Ann League Crown

Locked in a close game against Masconomet early in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night, boys basketball head coach Joseph Maiella told his team during a time out that they needed to get stops and they needed to get rebounds.

The Wildcats got stops. The Wildcats got rebounds. As a result, Maiella’s charges also got a win and a share of the Cape Ann League title to go with it.

Wilmington led by just three points at the beginning of the final frame, but thanks to a strong stretch from senior captain Nick Godzyk and a solid team defensive performance, the Wildcats went ahead by double digits and held on for a 58-52 victory.

Thanks to the win, Wilmington now shares the Cape Ann League regular season crown with the winner of North Andover and Masco’s match up on Friday night.

“If we defend and hold teams in the 50's, we’re going to win every game,” said Maiella, whose team hadn’t won the league championship since 2008. “We’re so proud of these kids to do what they did. We were down in the dumps last Tuesday night. Coming back is a tremendous accomplishment.”

The down Wildcat mood was because they were caught square in a trap game against Ipswich. Wilmington was preparing for a , but on Tuesday dropped a contest to winless Ipswich. To keep its title hopes alive, the team bounced back and won against North Andover and backed that up with another solid performance against Masco.

Junior guard Tim McCarthy led Wilmington with 18 points against Masco and though star guard Vinny Scifo suffered during an off shooting night, he still chipped in 17 points during the game.

Godzyk stuck two straight jumpers early in the fourth quarter and hit a free throw midway through the frame, helping his team push its lead to 53-42.

Masco came storming back, however, and clawed back within two points at 54-52 with 1:14 to play. McCarthy registered a clutch drive and layup with 55 ticks remaining, and the score stayed at 56-52 until Godzyk sealed the win with his hands.

The visitors looked for a quick basket to set themselves up with a chance to tie the game, but Wilmington’s senior captain read a Masco pass perfectly, registered a steal and wisely dished the ball to Scifo, who stuck two free throws and closed out the win.

“He just threw it right to me. I didn’t do much,” who didn’t hesitate when asked if he’d rather seal a win with a steal or a buzzer-beating jumper. “It doesn’t matter if we win. Last year we had a lot of these types of games so we got used to it. Last year we lost, this year we’re actually winning them.”

With the victory, the team improved to 12-3 in Cape Ann play and now faces a trio of non-league games before the postseason. The team plays Senior Night on Friday against Tewksbury.

Maiella said his squad, which was highly touted following a hot start that included an impressive road win against Hamilton-Wenham, was impacted by the hype around them.

“It woke us up (losing to Ipswich),” said Maiella. “The kids were reading, and I think the coaches were too and I’m the first to admit. When you see us 11^th in the (Boston) Globe and ESPN Boston, you get a little excited. We probably had a couple days of bad practice when we weren’t really worked out as well, which is my fault. Ipswich got us, but it was probably the best thing that happened to us.”