Wareham travel team celebrates second undefeated season

Feb 5, 2017

The fifth graders on Wareham’s Cape Hoops Youth Travel Team have been unstoppable for the past two years.

In that time, the basketball team is undefeated. Following a pair of playoff victories on Sunday the team is again headed to a league championship game set for Feb. 11 at 11:30 a.m. in Bourne Middle School.

Coach Dommi Mello said he hopes to return to the state championship tournament where the team placed third last year.

“The goal this year is to play in that final championship game,” said Mello.

On Sunday, the team defeated Bourne 50-31 and Old Rochester Regional 62-45 in the Wareham Middle School gymnasium. Its regular season record is 14-0.

The travel team is one of 14 that play across Cape Cod and the South Coast in the Cape Cod Youth Basketball League, which is open to boys and girls in grades four through eight.

Mello said the local team joined the league four years ago in order to give Wareham kids an incentive to develop their talent for the high school team. Mello is a former player himself and his son is currently on the high school squad.

Mello said he makes sure the team focuses on the fundamentals and he makes sure everyone gets equal playing time.

“We want to make it fun so the kids think about staying and playing in Wareham and to do that we make sure every kid plays. If they sit on the bench, then they don’t come back next year,” said Mello.