MALDEN — The Malden Catholic boys basketball team has the same goal every season: to win a state championship.
The Lancers have been a model of consistency, winning three championships over the last four years, and are coming off a run to the MIAA Division II final last season.
A sudden change at the start of this season threatened to disrupt all of that.
On Dec. 10, just two days before Malden Catholic’s first game of the year, head coach John Walsh stepped down, leaving the program after five seasons at the helm.
“It was a big shock,” senior guard Aboubakar Nimaka said. “It’s hard not having my head coach from the last three years not coaching me. But, you know, in life, there’s unexpected changes, so you just got to go through it. You just got to live life.”
And live, the Lancers have.
Under new head coach and former assistant Mark Garrity, they are off to a 3-0 start, as a 63-53 win at home on Friday night over Greater Lawrence Tech was the latest for MC. Even in the face of sudden change, MC is still eyeing the same goal.
“It’s crazy, there have been no issues at all,” said Garrity. “It’s like I’ve been the coach for 10 years. They were ready to go. I can’t say enough about the group.”
All night long, the Lancers had the Reggies nipping at their heels, until pulling away and shutting the door in the fourth quarter.
Junior forward Jeremiah Figaro had 17 points for MC, sharing the lead with Nimaka, who had a double-double by scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
A four-year player on the varsity squad and the Lancers’ only returning starter from last season, Nimaka has helped the team maintain its equilibrium when it could have so easily fallen off course.
“When we figured out what was going on, he just told everybody it’s business as usual,” Garrity said. “They follow his lead. Having a kid like that, we’re so lucky to have him. He raises the floor, and I’m going to keep asking for more from him.”
Still, Walsh’s departure looms large a little over a week after the fact. Garrity himself said he only just started feeling “normal” as he and the team adjust to his new role.
“They know who I am,” said Garrity. “I’m not changing who I am. They know what the expectations are in the program. If you don’t want to be here, no hard feelings. They all want to be here. I think they work even harder.”
The coaching change isn’t the only thing different for MC. This year is its first competing at the Division I level.
That was going to be challenging enough on its own. Add in a coaching change right before the season, and there’s some adversity to overcome.
But what they’ve lost and with all that’s different, the Lancers are staying grounded by focusing on what they still have.
“We still have a great coaching staff that wants to see us succeed,” Nimaka said. “We do everything in our power to maintain our focus and our intensity, and we’ve just got to keep it up.”
If they keep it up, another championship may very well be in the Lancers’ future.
“Our mindset is just to go back to the championship this year and win,” said Nimaka. “That’s it, nothing changes.”
