By LIAM O’BRIEN
Waltham Times Contributing Writer

Jump shot by Andrew Zinda at TD Garden. Photo by Liam O’Brien.

It was Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the defending champion Boston Celtics gracing the court at TD Garden on Friday night.

Fast forward 24 hours and the Waltham boys basketball team was the unit rocking the home white uniforms on the legendary parquet floor.

Despite falling just short by a score of 63-57 to Ayer Shirley Regional High School, the Hawks had an experience they will look back on fondly on Saturday evening as part of the Andrew James Lawson Foundation Invitational.

“That was awesome,” senior Matt McDonald said. “Playing at the Garden was a great privilege to have. It was so good.”

Waltham High School (WHS) supporters came out in droves to support the group while the cheer team received the opportunity to perform on the court. At halftime, members of the Waltham youth basketball organization hopped on the floor to shoot around, their parents snapping pictures and taking in the scene.

“It was a great opportunity to play at the Boston Garden,” head coach Mike Wilder said.

The Hawks ultimately struggled to get over the hump but netted some memorable moments nonetheless. Senior Jace Meader, who banked in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to knock off undefeated Boston Latin at home one night earlier, cashed in a trio of 3-pointers en route to a team-high 19 points. Meanwhile, senior Zach Jeanphilippe controlled the tempo with aplomb throughout the contest. The guard shimmied his way to the rim continuously against Ayer-Shirley, garnering 18 points on nine made shots.

A driving layup by Jeanphilippe gave his team a 15-14 lead early in the second quarter and the upstart Hawks hung tough throughout most of the first half. However, the Panthers began to pull away as the intermission approached, and a subsequent 9-0 run to begin the second half made the going tough for Waltham.

“It was not a disappointment,” Wilder said. “We just poured out a ton of energy the night before. We won on a buzzer-beater so it was a really emotional, rush-the-court type of thing. We just came out flat. We struggled with stopping the ball in the paint. It’s basketball, we just didn’t have it today.”

Waltham picked up the intensity in the fourth quarter, cutting the Ayer-Shirley to as few as five points behind a suffocating press and a flurry of threes by Meader and athletic finishes at the rim by seniors Grant Bardsley and Andrew Zinda. Ultimately, the Hawks would fall to 4-5 on the season as they fell just short of completing the comeback.

As for what is next for the team?

“Trying to make the playoffs,” Jeanphilippe said. Waltham will continue its quest for the state tournament on Tuesday at Bedford High School with the next home game coming on Friday night against Concord-Carlisle High School.

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