Page 14 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, December 8, 2023 LET THE (Inside) GAMES BEGIN! Malden Winter Sports Season Starting Up Malden Girls and Boys Basketball taps off Tuesday night, Dec. 12 in Openers By Steve Freker I t is the shortest “turnaround” during the school year. We are talking about the changeover from Fall to Winter Sports seasons at Malden High School, which joins the over 350 districts statewide in starting a whole new slate of sports programs. We just fi nished packing up the last football helmets when the first day of tryouts for Winter Season arrived about 80 hours later on November 27. The new season certainly is showing some early promise with numbers of participants going “up, up up,” according to eighth-year Malden Public Schools Director of Physical Education and Athletics Charlie Conefrey. He told the Advocate that close to 300 student-athletes were ready to go for the many Malden winter team offerings on Day One. “It has been a pleasure to see so many of the nearly 300 student-athletes who registered for Winter sports teams going through their tryouts and preseason practices this past week,” MALDEN HIGH SPORTS SCHEDULE for WEEK of DECEMBER 8-15 Friday, December 8 5:30—SCRIMMAGE, Varsity Boys Basketball vs. Wakefi eld 7:15—SCRIMMAGE, Varsity Girls Basketball at Arlington Catholic Saturday, December 9 10:00 a.m.—Varsity Wrestling at Excel Academy Charter High School 2:30—SCRIMMAGE, Varsity Girls Basketball vs. Swampscott, Finn Gym, Malden Sunday, December 10 No events scheduled Monday, December 11 4:00 p.m.—Middle School Girls Basketball at Everett, Lafayette School 5:00 p.m.—Middle School Boys Basketball at Everett, Lafayette School Tuesday, December 12 4:00 p.m.—Freshman Girls Basketball vs. Everett, Beebe School, Malden 4:00 p.m.—Freshman Boys Basketball at Everett High 4:30 p.m.—JV Girls Basketball vs. Everett, Finn Gym, Malden High 5:30 p.m.—JV Boys Basketball at Everett 6:00 p.m.—Varsity Girls Basketball vs. Everett, Finn Gym, Malden 7:00 p.m.—Varsity Boys Basketball at Everett Wednesday, December 13 4:00 p.m.—Middle School Boys Basketball vs, Somerville, Beebe School, Malden 5:00 p.m.—Middle School Girls Basketball vs. Somerville Thursday, December 14 4:30—JV Girls Basketball vs. Somerville 6:00—Varsity Girls Basketball vs. Somerville Friday, December 15 4:00—JV Girls Basketball at Whittier Tech 5:30—Varsity Girls Basketball at Whittier Tech 7:00—Varsity Girls Indoor Track, Tri-Meet vs. Lynn English and Medford, Reggie Lewis Center, Roxbury 7:00—Varsity Boys Indoor Track, Tri-Meet vs. Lynn English and Medford, Reggie Lewis Center, Roxbury WALL-TO-WALL GOLDENS TORNADOS: Malden Public Schools Director of Physical Education and Athletics Charlie Conefrey shows off the new addition of wall art outside his offi ce at Malden High School. (Courtesy/MPS Athletic Dept.) Conefrey said. “What was especially nice to see was how many aspiring student-athletes elected to try a sport which they have never played before,” the Malden AD added. Two sports particularly – Coed Gymnastics and Coed/ Co-op Wrestling – saw major boosts in numbers in Week One, with over 30 student-athletes in each sport taking part in preseason drills and practices. Basketball numbers trying out for the Boys and Girls teams were not quite as high as last year, but still strong as 19thyear Boys Head Coach Don Nally and his staff looked at 50 players trying to win a spot on one of the three levels of Varsity, JV and Freshman teams being off ered. Coach Scott Marino’s Girls Basketball tryout numbers were also up this year. Conefrey said Malden continues to off er Boys and Girls Varsity Ice Hockey, matching up with Everett, Revere and Mystic Valley in Co-op for the Boys and with Medford High in Co-op for the Girls. Down at the Salemwood School, at Sam Fishman Fieldhouse, Boys Indoor Track and Girls Indoor Track feature 70 student-athletes all together. “With the 2023-2024 Winter Season set to kick off offi cially with schedules in all sports next week, we wish all of the players and coaches from all of the team good luck and nothing but the very best for everyone this Winter Season,” Conefrey told the Advocate. Tide boys’ hockey adds JV, middle school teams following large tryout turnout Everett co-op begins GBL season Wednesday at home against Somerville By Joe McConnell E verett High School coach Craig Richards’ boys’ co-op hockey team, comprised of players from Everett, Revere, Mystic Valley and Malden, ended up with an 9-11 record last year, just missing a state tournament berth. Since Richards and his staff took over the program, they have gone from three wins to last year’s high of nine, and more progress is expected from them once again this winter. Optimism is bursting at the seams throughout the team with its two top lines back in the fold. Michael Brandano, Jake Simpson and Ollie Svenson make up one unit. Matt Lacroix, Frankie Annunziata and Lucas Deguire is the other trio of veteran forwards. Richards expects Liam Thompson, Vishant Chawla and Jacob Cantone to also step up and add depth among the forwards. Jacky Summers, Andrew Crasco and Riley Constantine will help anchor the defense, along with returning players Ben Saia and Jonathan Brandano. Freshman defensemen David Perez and Tommy Cronin are also expected to make an impact this season, along with goalie Ray Blauvelt, who will be a nice depth piece in net that will also feature returnees Ben Rosa and Aaron Al Marayati. “We have 10 seniors on this year’s roster, and we expect a lot from them,” said Richards. “There's a lot of experience on this team, and as a result our expectations are extremely high this year.” Brandano, Simpson, Summers, Svenson and Deguire are the team captains this winter, prompting Richards to remark, “there's a lot of leadership on this team.” Richards welcomed over 30 players to tryouts on Nov. 27. It was a large turnout for a program on the upswing, which gives it more than enough players to put together a JV and middle school team, as well. Assistant coach Jamie Branzel, one of the best X's & O's mentors around, according to Richards, is going to be a huge part of the program this winter. Branzel will be joined on the bench by Kirk Tomajian and Ryan Ceratto, who will coach the defense. “They have a great rapport with our players along the blue line,” said Richards. The Crimson Tide played in the annual Reagan Summit Jamboree at the New England Sports Center in Marlboro last Sunday, where they battled Boston Latin to a 6-6 tie. They will take on Peabody / Saugus, another coop team, Saturday night, Dec. 9, in Everett, starting at 7:30 p.m., before beginning the Greater Boston League season against Somerville on Wednesday, Dec. 13, also in Everett, starting at 4 p.m.
15 Publizr Home