Melrose Lady Raiders Basketball

Melrose brought high hopes into the Tanner City finals, facing the twice defending NH State Titlist. But Winnacunnet cut the Lady Raiders down with exceptional speed and quickness, fundamental excellence including devastating perimeter offense, and won handily 72-55.

Winnacunnet went out quickly 13-3, with Melrose narrowing the gap to eight at the stanza break. But the Warriors, behind their outstanding guards Tiffany Ruffin and Lindsey Mahoney swarmed to a 37-22 half-time lead using their quickness and fast break attack to generate easy buckets. Hannah Brickley and Siena Mamayek each had six at the half.

Winnacunett maintained its lead after three 59-44 with Siena firing in nine points for the Lady Raiders.

Melrose cut the lead to thirteen midway through the fourth, when a Winnacunnet surge brought the lead back to twenty before settling into the final.

Siena (17) and Hannah (10) led Melrose and both were named to the All-Tournament team. Niki Devereaux received a Sportsmanship Award. Ruffin was the tournament MVP and her teammate Mahoney was also selected for the All-Tournament team.

Winnacunnett had superior height and had exceptional quickness to the ball defensively. They also showed excellent diagnostic skills defensively, anticipating where Melrose's plays were headed, sometimes as quickly as Melrose was running them. They also capitalized on their height advantage with double digit blocked shots, denying Melrose around the basket.

Amanda Peters had a pair of threes in limited action for another Lady Raider highlight. The Lady Raiders went 10 for 15 from the charity stripe.

Lady Raider Notes. Melrose travels to Reading Friday for the first of their pair of Middlesex League showdowns. Reading is looking to break Melrose's stranglehold on the Middlesex League title, and has potent ammunition with their MVP candidate Jackie Lyons and sharpshooter Cat Carey who gunned down Melrose last season with seven threes. Melrose will need a total team effort and a shutdown defensive effort to pull off a critical road victory.

Melrose moved to 4-0 with a first round win over host Peabody at the Tanner City Basketball Tournament. They will face defending champion Winnacunnet in the finals tomorrow night at 6:30.

The Lady Raiders got off to a fast start with defense and led 15-6 after the opening quarter with balanced scoring, and led 29-16 at halftime. Siena Mamayek and Nicole Meuse each had eight points at the half.

Melrose controlled the action in the second half, leading 42-30 after three and winning 57-40.

Unofficially, Hannah Brickley led Melrose with 15, followed by Laura Irwin and Siena Mamayek with 10, and Nicole Meuse with 8.

Melrose continued to struggle at the free throw line, making 3 of 11.

Overall, it was a solid effort, with a good defensive effort achieved holding the opponent to forty or less.

Winnacunnet features junior guard Tiffany Ruffin, named New Hampshire's Gatorade Player of the Year last season. Winnacunnet has won the last two New Hampshire Class L State Championships. They should produce a great challenge for Melrose as the Lady Raiders take the season one game at a time.

Local hoop guru Tom Hellen puts together basketball rankings and commentary. Tom has an extensive knowledge of local girls' basketball and has always been extremely supportive to the Melrose program.

Here's a link to Tom's website where you can find his rankings.

Click photos to ENLARGE. Photos courtesy of Don Norris. Most statistics courtesy of Dick Collis.

Melrose enjoyed a rare weekend home game, a makeup of a snow postponement, handily defeating Belmont 57-34 to go 3-0 on the season. One of Belmont's best players, Clare Sullivan, transferred to a private school this season and the Marauders showed the effects.

The Lady Raiders debuted their new home whites, which the girls report are very comfortable.

Melrose got off to a quick 10-0 lead in the first four minutes, with their motion offense the trigger, and Nicky Devereaux with six first quarter points. Colleen Hanscom had several early assists (four in the first half) and the team avoided the turnover bug.

Melrose led 17-7 after a quarter and 32-13 at the half, a team effort with seven players scoring.

It was more of the same in the second half, with more balanced scoring as Belmont never made it closer than 15 points.

Colleen Hanscom had six assists on clever passing, and Hannah Brickley added 15 points to Siena Mamayek's strong 14 points and eight from Nicky Devereaux. Reducing the number of turnovers was another key.

Melrose struggled from the free throw line, hitting only 3 of 9, and also (unofficially) shot only 2 of 16 from beyond the arc, but the inside game carried the Lady Raiders to victory in the home opener.

Left to right: Amanda Peters, Annemarie Wiesen, Nicole Meuse, Ashley Cunningham, Teagan Bell, and ballgirls Brooke Bell and Shannon Lahiff.
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L to R...Ashley, Annemarie, Colleen, Amanda, and Siena.
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Siena goes up for two while Hannah (5) and Annemarie look on.
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Amanda drains a trey.
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Nicky drives to the hoop.
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Ashley goes up for two.
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Basketball is not a contact sport; it's a collision sport. Ashley knows that.
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L to R. Colleen, Siena, Nicole, Nicky, and Hannah sport the new Lady Raider threads.
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Amanda Peters is a three-point threat for Melrose.
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Hannah has opponents seeing double, or maybe triple.
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Nicky and Colleen apply pressure outside.
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Siena continues to do yeoman work underneath.
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Hannah switched from 25 to 5 this season, but the results are the same.
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Colleen's playmaking is pivotal to the Lady Raiders' success.

Lady Raider Notes: Melrose faces a huge week with the Tanner City Basketball Tournament Monday and Tuesday at Peabody. Melrose will join Peabody, a strong Bishop Fenwick team, and a New Hampshire power, Winnacunnet in the event. Winnacunnet defeated Melrose in the finals last season.

Holiday Special: Shey Peddy's dad Terrance was in the house tonight, presenting Wright State tee shirts to the Back Row Boys. A number of opposing coaching staff members were also present scouting.

Whaaatt? During the JV game and early in the varsity girls game, water spots on the court needed drying. Let's hope the problem is resolved ASAP for the players' comfort and safety.

After the postponement of the home opener, Melrose traveled to Burlington and captured a decisive 69-40 victory.

The Lady Raiders held early 19-8 and 37-24 leads while cruising to victory. Nine players scored for Melrose, with strong efforts particularly from juniors Siena Mamayek (17), Colleen Hanscom (14) and Hannah Brickley (14).

Melrose put up 69 points despite showing some rustiness at the free throw line, shooting 10 for 23 at the stripe.

Melrose moves to 2-0, with the Peabody Tanner Tournament next week.

Melrose schools are rumored to be scheduled for closure at 11:00 AM in the face of the coming winter storm.

Preliminary reports suggest the basketball game versus Belmont will be scheduled for Saturday evening.

Melrose launched its campaign to defend their Middlesex League hoop title, traveling to Watertown for a 65-27 victory. Last season Watertown showed a lot of improvement, advancing to the playoffs and topping Ipswich in the postseason.

Melrose went out to an 18-12 lead after a quarter, led by eight first period points from Colleen Hanscom, and a 33-14 halftime lead en route to their inaugural victory after a trio of scrimmages against Lowell, Central, and Andover last week.

Ten players scored for Melrose, led by Colleen Hanscom with 16, Hannah Brickley with 14, and Siena Mamayek with 12 points as the volleyball trio struck for 42 of the 65 points.

Melrose got off to a good start at the free throw line, sinking 10 of 13 from the line as well.

Melrose features 10 juniors among the 11 player roster. 6 of the 11 move over from volleyball, and the transition isn't as easy as it looks, with different athletic demands and a lot more contact.

Middlesex League All-League player Hannah Brickley is named All-Scholastic by the Boston Globe. Hannah also was an academic standout at Melrose High School this quarter.

Click to ENLARGE.

The Free Press has a preview of the upcoming season.