The surging Revere High hockey team batted 1.000 this week, reeling off three victories in three outings, to move to the brink of qualifying for the post season state tournament. The Patriots now stand at 7-8-4 on the season and need a win in their final regular season game tonight (Wednesday) against Matignon in the Newburyport Bank Tournament to punch their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney. Face off in the Graf Arena in Newburyport is 7:00.
“This team has really come of age in the last half of the season,†said veteran RHS head coach Jim Palumbo, whose colleagues acknowledged the tremendous job he has done with his team by voting him as a co-coach of the year in the South Division of the Northeastern Conference, an honor he shares with the Marblehead coach, whose team won the NEC South title.
The Patriots began their week with a 2-1 triumph over a Marblehead team which was seeking to clinch the NEC South championship. However, RHS goalie Jon Papasadora and his teammates had other ideas. After spotting Marblehead a 1-0 lead early in the second period, R.J. Tiorano lit the lamp twice at the 10:09 mark and then at 11:55 to give the Pats a 2-1 advantage. Marco Mazzarelli and Cam Whalen assisted on T.J.’s first marker and Drew Lauria and Chris Whalen earned assists on the second.
From there the game belonged to the Patriot defense and Papasadora, who held firm the rest of the way against Marblehead. “Jon was unbelievable,†lauded Palumbo. “Everyone played well, but he truly won that game for us.†The finally shots on goal stats showed Marblehead with a wide edge, 33-15, but the Pats held the advantage where it counted at the final horn.
For Tiorano, the two goals were the middle game of a three game run in which he scored two goals in all three contests. The senior lit the lamp twice in a 4-1 win over Salem last Wednesday and then did it again in a 3-2 victory over Pentucket this past Monday in the opening round of the Newburyport Tourney.
The Salem victory saw Revere once again get off to a slow start, with Salem grabbing a 1-0 lead after the first period. However, markers by Tiorano (assisted by Zack Ciampa) and Pat Bartol (assisted by Mazzarelli and Tiorano) in the middle stanza gave Revere a 2-1 advantage.
Tiorano (assisted by Bartol and Chris Whalen) and Peter Marino (assisted by Lauria and Chris Whalen) gave the Pats some extra insurance in the third period . “We started slowly, but then took control,†noted Palumbo, whose team outshot Salem by a 32-15 margin.
The win Monday over Pentucket was a nail biter, with Revere waiting until late in the final period to tie the game and then win it. Marino (assisted by Shayne Cambria and Cam Whalen) made it a 1-1 contest early in the third period after Pentucket took a 1-0 edge with a goal in the second period.
However, Pentucket regained the lead 1:30 later and matters stood at 1-1 until Tiorano went to work. R.J. lit the lamp with 3:40 to play to tie it (assisted by Cam Whalen) and then potted the game winner with 2:15 on the clock (assisted by Ciampa and Bartol).
“It’s been a pretty amazing run for us,†said Palumbo. “I’ve had teams that have accomplished more, but none who have improved as much over the course of a season and who have given everything they have to be as good as they can be.â€
In addition to Palumbo’s nod for NEC South Coach of the Year, which adds another notch to his illustrious, Mass. Coaches Hall of Fame career, additional post season honors for the Patriots included Tiorano, who was the third leading scorer in the South, being named to the NEC’s all-conference team. Fellow Patriots Lauria, Papasadora, Chris Whelan, and Mazzarelli were selected to the South Division all-star squad.
If Palumbo and his crew defeat Matignon tonight, they will await the announcement of their seeding and pairing in the North Sectional of the MIAA Division 2 tournament later this week, with their first game likely early next week.
RHS girls hoop qualifies for tourney
The Revere High girls basketball team qualified for the post season state tourney with a 60-38 triumph at Beverly last Tuesday. The contest never was in doubt, as the Lady Patriots moved out to a 30-14 lead at the half and never looked back en route to punching their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney.
“This was our best and most complete game of the season,†said RHS head coach Katelyn Leonard. “Everybody played well and contributed. It was a nice way to clinch a tourney berth.â€
Caitlyn Caramello led the Revere scoring effort with 16 points. Venous Hamza reached double figures with 13, followed by Jen Fajardo with nine, Amy Rotger with six, Tiphani Harris and Michaela Maguire with five each, Eduarda Berry with four, and Sam Harris, Alex Ambrosino, and Jackie Noel with two points apiece.
The Lady Patriots did not have as much luck the rest of the week, dropping contests to Peabody on Friday and then both encounters on Sunday and Monday in the IAABO Tourney held at Central Catholic in Lawrence to Pentucket and Archbishop Williams, two of the top teams in Division 3.
Caramello shone in all three tilts, pouring in a career high 25 points against Peabody. Caitlyn also was named to the all-tournament team over the weekend. In addition, teammates Maguire and Hamza were presented $250 scholarship checks at the tourney.
However, despite the succession of setbacks, Leonard was upbeat about her team. “One thing I love about this team is that they never quit and play hard right to the very end, no matter what the score is,†said the coach. “They always give 100 percent.â€
Leonard and her crew, who now stand at 10-9 on the year, will close out their regular season tonight at Medford. They then will await Friday’s announcement of their tourney seeding and pairing, with the expectation that their first game could come on Monday.
Two Lady Patriots, Gena Restiano (despite having missed the latter half of the season with a knee injury) and Caramello were named to the NEC’s North Division all-star team and will compete against the South All Stars Friday night at Swampscott.
Fitzpatrick takes 6th at States, sets mark
Mike Fitzpatrick added another page to his storybook senior year, winning a sixth place medal in the 1000 meter run Saturday at the Division 1 State Meet held at the Reggie Lewis Track Center. The sixth place finish qualifies Fitzpatrick for the All-State Meet this weekend.
Fitzy’s time of 2:33.21 set a new school record, shattering his own mark of 2:35 that he had set this year when he broke the previous record that was held by Sam Ros for more than a dozen years.
Fitzpatrick performance also qualified him for the Emerging Elites National Championship Meet to be held on March 9-11 at the 168th St. Armory in New York City.
Fitzpatrick also competed in the 4 x 200 relay race that was a makeshift quartet because the original foursome was decimated by injuries. Still, the squad of Fitzpatrick, Younes Hartout, Karim Sahila, and Johnny Lopes sprinted around the oval in a time of 1:39.49, which was only one second off Revere’s best clocking this season.
Omar Morales also qualified for the State Meet and represented Revere in the shotput event against the other top throwers in Division 1, with his top toss of the day going a distance of 40-40-3.5, good for 18th place.
On the girls’ side, RHS star hurdler Racquel MacDonald came through with a strong 12th place finish in the large D-1 field. Her time of 9.16 was just short of the 9.05 needed to make the top eight to reach the finals, but was faster than the eighth place finisher’s clocking of 9.19 in the finals.
RHS boys hoop team ends season
The Revere High boys basketball team dropped its final two games of the season to Beverly and Peabody this past week.
The Patriots had hoped to play the spoiler role Friday evening against Peabody, which needed a win to qualify for the state tourney. The teams were separated by just two points at the half (28-26 in favor of Peabody), but Peabody rained down a torrent of long range three pointers (the Tanners sank 12 treys on the night) over the top of the 3-2 Revere zone after the intermission to pull away and go on to an eventual 67-56 victory.
Dom Boyce led the Patriots with 19 points. Mike Ciambelli also reached double figures with 10 points, followed by Joseph Aut with eight, Chris Palladino with six, Mike Dreeszen with five, Jason Seigal with four, and John Leone and Ravi Ryland (who was called up from the JV squad) with two points each. Ravi’s points came at the free throw line, when he sank both of his attempts at the end of the first half with no time left on the clock.
In the Beverly encounter, The Patriots hung close (45-36) through the first three frames and cut the Beverly margin to just three points in the final stanza. However, the Pats never were quite able to make it all the way back and came out on the short end of a 61-49 decision.
Palladino enjoyed a banner night, hitting for 21 points. Sophomore Jason Seigal had a career high nine points, followed by Geo Gomez with seven, Dreeszen and Ciambelli with five each, and Aut with two.
Palladino was named to the NEC all-star team and will represent the North Division in the all-star tilt Friday evening at Swampscott.
The conclusion of the season marked the final games in RHS uniforms for Patriot seniors Palladino, Aut, and Leone.
