THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, March 17, 2023 Page 17 Malden Recreation Youth Basketball Crowns 2023 Champions Thunder wins Al Locke Title, Villanova is Arthur Boyle League Champ By Steve Freker HOSTS WITH THE MOST: The excellent hosts for the 83rd Annual Junior Varieties show were Sarah Boucher, Kauan Da Silva, Damien Josaphat and Marianne Rivadeneira. a sideways, “Who on earth is that” look toward Vences as he passed him on stage. Vences also played the role of NEDLAM, in full lion suit costume, who emerged as the night’s biggest hero when he defeated “Freddy” in the brief bout, KO-ing Kruger with a potent one-two set of punches. Malden High’s Junior Varieties, which is one of the longest continuous high school-based variety shows of its kind in the nation, was the 83rd in a series which started in 1939. It is traditionally put on by the reigning Junior Class, this year by the Class of 2024. While it once featured only members of the Junior Class, a number of years ago a change was introduced whereby students of any of Malden High’s four classes were allowed to perform. Two shows were held over this past weekend, both evening times on Friday and Saturday at the historic Thornton Jenkins Auditorium, named after the first-ever MHS principal. Malden High’s present-day Principal Chris Mastrangelo spared no praise for this year’s show, his fifth while serving in the school’s top post due to one COVID-necessary postponement in his tenure. “It is simply amazing the levels of talent creativity possessed by our MHS students,” Principal Mastrangelo said. “The kids’ performances were outstanding, the execution of the show was flawless, the students in the audience were respectful and enthusiastic in their response and support of all the acts. It was pretty much a perfect night.” “It was one of the best Junior Varieties I have attended,” the MHS Principal, who has been at the school since the earlyto-mid 2000s, said. Mastrangelo praised the combined efforts of the Junior Class of 2024, its members and Class Advisors – Jess Webber, Shannon Votaw and Kristen Kirby – for such a fantastic T he two most popular youth basketball leagues in the city finished the season with gusto on Saturday with two well played, closely battled championship games. Malden Recreation this win“Beetlejuice: The Musical” inspired a song/skit rendition of “Say My Name” by Stephanie Wong (left) and James Song. Finn Sedan raised his drumsticks to hype up the crowd in his “drum battle” against Joao Bereta. production. In their message to all involved in the 2023 Junior Varieties, which included close to 150, including performers and behind-the-scenes crew, the three advisors wrote in a letter included in the evening’s printed program, “To the Class of 2024: It has been a pleasure working with you all over the past year. Nothing (we have undertaken together) is as big as Junior Varieties. “Countless hours have been put in by many, so thank you to all the students that have dedicated their time and talent to put on a successful show. We are so proud of you!” ter hosted leagues for over 200 players on 16 teams in grades 3-8 at the Sam Fishman Fieldhouse at the Salemwood K-8 School. Many more players, boys and girls, took part in weekly Saturday morning instructional basketball work, bringing the total to over 300 young basketball players in grades K-8, supervised by the Malden Rec staff of Coordinator Joe Levine, Assistant Coordinator Laura Perez and Site Coordinator Michael Boyd. A solid staff of volunteers, many from the Malden High School boys’ and girls’ basketball teams, also helped make the seasons run smoothly. On Championship Saturday, in a close, 16-13 final, the Villanova team defeated St John’s for the Arthur P. Boyle League crown, in the league for boys and girls in Grades 4, 5 and 6. Villanova finished atop the regular season standings at 7-0 and then went 2-0 in the playoffs to finish unbeaten at 9-0 overall for the season. Villanova was coached by Kyriah Marcelin and Princeton Mathurin and included Mason Campos, Sully Connolly, Zyir Delva-Allen, Jahdia Fletcher, Andrew Mark, Michael Menard, Kyle Morano, Gabirelle Nettey, Mia Nguyen, Ramon Ostalaza, Jacob Peng, Mariana Rinaldi and Thomas Sewell. The Runner-up St. John’s The Thunder won the 2023 Al Locke League Championship for players in Grades 6, 7 and 8. (Advocate Photos) team, coached by Brian Friscia and Peyton Carron, included Winifred Chan, Nicholas Damico, Aidan Mark, Jason Nickerson, Aidan Nie, Arian Punj, Syrus Reddick, John Simonelli Jr., Dennis Soares, Nathan Tesfaye, Frank Toscano Jr. and Victor Vasquez-Flores. St. John’s came way out of the 2-5 regular season finish to make it all the way to the Finals with two upset playoff wins. Thunder wins second Championship in franchise history over the Heat, 40-36 The Thunder shook the gym for the second time in franchise history, using a second-half run to top the Heat, 40-36, for the Al Locke League Championship, the league for players in Grades 6, 7 and 8. The Heat and Thunder tied for the regular season championship, both 5-2 overall, so it was no surprise they were locked in Saturday’s title final. The Thunder, coached by Keyshawn Bridgeman-Dicks, included Chase Ashdown, Jamarie Brown, Shayaan Hussain, Cariguito Laude, Jax Marinko, Sysy Jacob Peng, a fifth-grader, was beaming after the game, holding Villanova’s championship trophy. McAuland, Jayden McGuffie, Jason Minervini, Tyler Pham, Liam Simmons, Mason Simmons and Kaileb Telasco. The Heat was coached by Josh London and included Adrian Aguilar, Lucas Allan, Justin Bertoncini, Luis Custodi, Aiden Deronja, Deng Maluil, Joh Maluil, Benjamin Mardy, Julianna Mercidieu, Jamie O’Neil, Isaiah Richmond, Charles Silva and Randy Tran. “It was a great season and we had a lot of interest in both St. John’s was the Runner-up in the Arthur P. Boyle League Championship. leagues. We thank all the players for their effort and passion for basketball, all the volunteers from Malden High School for their time and hard work and all the fans and family for supporting our leagues,” said Malden Recreation Coordinator Joe Levine. “We can’t wait for next year.”
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