Woburn Hoops Thumps Wildcats to Open Season

The Woburn boys basketball team provided Wilmington a rude welcome to the Middlesex League on Friday night as the teams opened the season.

Head coach Joe Maiella’s charges fell at home, 59-44, to the Tanners in their first game since moving out of Cape Ann League play.

Vinny Scifo, who is expected to climb past 1,000 points for his career this season, led the way with 24 points for Wilmington, but the Wildcats struggled to find additional offense throughout the game. James Wilkinson was the team’s next best scorer with 11 points.

“We’re just having trouble scoring right now as a team. We're just not hitting jump shots that we usually get,” said Maiella. “We have to get more than 44 points, and we’re going to have to play better defensively. We’re a different team than we were last year, and we are really going to have to get better on offense as the year goes on.”

Rather than playing with four guards on the floor like they have in the past, the Wildcats will have to do a little more bruising inside in addition to hitting timely three-pointers that Scifo, Cole Peffer, Tim McCarthy and others have provided in the past.

Maiella’s charges will have to quickly forget about the loss before a road game against Lexington Tuesday at 7 p.m.

“We’re hoping to have a good practice on Sunday. Having a short memory is the most important thing,” said Maiella. “Scoring 44 points won’t win you many basketball games, and that’s the bottom line.