By Craig Forde, Globe Correspondent

Malden Catholic’s newly refurbished Gerard Doherty Gym will see plenty of action this weekend when the school hosts the inaugural IAABO 27 Referees vs. Cancer Holiday Basketball Tournament.

The two-day event features eight teams with a combined 20-9 record competing in two separate divisions, with each crowning a champion on Sunday.

Saturday
Small School Division
Game 1, Noon - Winchester (2-2) vs. Whittier Tech (3-1)
Game 2, 1:30 p.m. - Arlington Catholic (3-0) vs. St. Clement (4-0)

Large School Division
Game 3, 3 p.m. - Brookline (2-2) vs. Belmont (0-3)
Game 4, 4:30 p.m.- Malden Catholic (3-1) vs. Salem (3-0)

Sunday
Consolation games
Game 5, noon- Small School Division
Game 6, 1:30 p.m. - Large School Division

Championship games
Game 7, 3 p.m.- Small School Division
Game 8, 4:30 p.m.- Large School Division

All proceeds will benefit the IAABO 27 Referees for Cancer initiative, which has raised nearly $13,000 for cancer research in 2012.

Malden Catholic is located at 99 Crystal Street in Malden.

Scores and summaries from Monday's basketball tournament games:

Medford 49, Peabody 48 — The Medford boys' basketball team muscled its way into the first round of the Division 1 North tournament last night after junior center James Hawkins blocked a layup attempt by Peabody in the final seconds to secure a 49-48 home victory.

The 6-foot-4-inch center finished with a season-high 15 blocks to go along with four points and eight rebounds as the Mustangs earned their first tournament win since 1999.

‘‘He really swallowed up the paint and anchored our defense early in the second half when we failed to produce offensively,'' said Medford coach Anthony Faradie.

The Tanners jumped out to a 10-2 lead to start the game when Faradie called a timeout to let his team settle down.

‘‘They [Peabody] are a good shooting team from outside and we had a couple of mental lapses and we gave them a couple of easy layups to start the game,'' Faradie said. ‘‘We used a timeout after Peabody's run and we got our guys to focus on their key shooters.''

Point guard Sean Doncaster took control of the Mustangs' offense, scoring 9 of his 23 points in the second half as Medford clawed back to take a 21-18 halftime lead.

‘‘We were fortunate to be up 3,'' Faradie said. ‘‘It was back and forth and we were able to get some key stops and score on the offensive end. I thought we needed to execute better and we needed to penetrate the zone a little bit more and improve our transition defense because [Peabody] continued to beat us on the break.''

The teams traded baskets early in the second half, with Peabody clinging to a 39-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

‘‘We struggled to score the entire half,'' Faradie said.

The biggest lead for either team in the second half was 3 points. The Mustangs continued to press the Tanners on defense and deny the passing lanes. Shooting guard Maurice Magras (10 points) sparked the Pioneers' offense with three long 3-pointers. Doncaster also continued to get to the basket and finished 7 of 9 from the free throw line.

‘‘We dug in on the defensive end and it was a great home game,'' Faradie said. ‘‘We have Central Catholic coming up. We have our hands full but we have an opportunity to shock everybody.''

Marlborough 57, North Middlesex 56 (OT) — Conner O'Leary hit the winning shot as time expired in overtime to lift the visiting No. 10 Panthers (12-9) in a Division 1 first-round game. Spencer Little scored 19 points, Mike Tirpak had 13 and Little finished with 8 for Marlboro, which advances to play No. 2 St. Peter-Marian at 7 p.m. Thursday at Assumption. Kyle McDermott had 14 points, and Kevin Marciano scored 13 for the No. 7 Patriots (13-8).

Salem 73, Malden Catholic 68 — After being down by 12 at the half, the Witches made a comeback led by junior guard Marvin Baez (25 points). Christian Dunston added 21.

Marblehead 46, Tewksbury 43 (OT) — Jeff Peras had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Phil Coughlin hit the winning 3-pointer with 1:50 to play in overtime as the Magicians (11-10) held the Redmen scoreless for the final two minutes of overtime.

Dedham 66, O'Bryant 43 — The Marauders were led by junior point guard Jeremy Clifford and senior center Vinny Iarrobino. Clifford scored 21 points and Iarrobino scored 16.

Millis 67, CASH 46 — Senior guard Derek Latosek led the Mohawks with 22 ponits.

Girls’ basketball

Hingham 69, Sandwich 59 — Freshman Sierra Irvin scored 28 points, going 11 of 12 from the free throw line and 3 of 6 from behind the 3-point arc, and senior co-captain Katharine Alger added 11 points for the Harbormen (12-11).

Sharon 50, Silver Lake 28 — Sophomore guard Karlie O'Driscoll powered the Eagles with 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 steals.

By Gabe Souza, Globe correspondent

Beverly coach Marty Harrington knew going into last night’s game versus Salem that knocking off the No. 12-ranked Witches would be a tall task.

But Harrington also knew that for his team to have any shot at the tournament, they had to check off three wins in its final three games.

So far for the Panthers, its one down, two to go.

Using 24 points and 18 rebounds from junior center Zack Zigelbaum, and applying a strong defensive press in the fourth quarter, Beverly overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to knock off Salem, 72-70.

Beverly improved to 8-9 with the win, while Salem fell to 16-3.

“They led by 11 the entire game,” Harrington said. “We were down by 10 at the start of the fourth, and we knew that they only play about five of their players so we were hoping they were tired.”

With about six minutes left in the fourth, the Panthers applied a 3-2 press and saw immediate results.

“We knew that we needed to win if we wanted to have a shot at advancing so, we applied the press,” Harrington said. “We got a couple of steals right away and just slowly chipped away at the lead. Then with about 38 seconds to go, Aren Jones scored the go-ahead basket.”

Chris Keaton, a junior shooting guard, added 20 points for the Panthers.

Beverely now must win its final two games, both of which are at home – Sunday vs. Dracut and Tuesday vs. Winthrop – to reach 10 wins and advance to the tournament.

“If we come out and play with the intensity with which we played tonight, that’s what we need to do to win,” Harrington said.