The Revere High girls basketball team will open play in the MIAA State Tournament at Westford Academy this evening (Wednesday) at 7:00.
The Lady Patriots, who finished with an 11-9 record, are the 14th seeded team in the Division 1 North Sectional. Westford, 17-4, which hails from the Dual County League, is the third seed.
“Westford is the best team in the DCL,” said RHS head coach Katelyn Leonard. “They are a tough, tough team. They have two solid six- foot forwards who are very skilled with the ball. It’s going to be a tough test for us, but we’re working hard every day to bring our best. We’re looking forward to the test.”
The seniors and their teammates made the most of their Senior Night festivities recently with a 52-37 win over Beverly with what Leonard termed, “One of our best games of the season.”
Revere came out in a strong zone press and then back to the 2-3 zone to get out to a 9-0 lead before Beverly could even get going. Beverly made a bid at comeback in the third quarter, but the seniors, led by senior captain Gena Restiano with 17 points, came on in the fourth frame to put the clamps down and finish off the game.
Senior captain Caitlyn Caramello with 15 points and senior Amy Rotger with 13 points also reached double figures for Revere. Also figuring in the scoring for Revere were Tiphani Harris with four points, , Gianna Bua with two, and Danielle Smith with a free throw.
The Lady Patriots then had to play the following day against a top Northeastern Conference rival, Peabody. Revere’s fatigue showed from the outset, as Peabody was able to jump out to a 10-2 lead.
“Our rough start against a strong Peabody defense proved to be costly,” noted Leonard. “We stayed with them the whole way, cutting their lead to five at one point in the second half, but we were never able to muster up enough of a push to take a lead. Peabody’s size proved to be a huge problem for us on the offensive end, where we really struggled to find the hoop.”
Restiano led the way in the scoring column with 16 points. Caramello added five, Harris and Rotger chipped in three, and Jacqui Noel sank a free throw.
The Lady Patriots then played in the Spartan Classic, taking on two of the best teams in the region in Lexington and Masconomet. In the opening round against Lexington, Revere came out on the short end of a 41-30 decision. Revere held a 14-13 lead at the half in a defensive battle, but Lexington picked up the scoring pace in the second half.
“We seemed to run out of answers in the fourth quarter,” said Leonard. “They were able to hit some huge shots that helped them pull away in the end. This was a great test for us heading into the state tournament, against a team we could face in the early rounds. We know as a group we could’ve played better, and won this game, so that was encouraging.”
Restiano paced Revere with 14 points and Noel hit for eight.
Next up was Masco and the Lady Pats fell by a score of 65-41. Masco came out in a very tight pressure defense which caused Revere to have a hard time bringing the ball up, causing a lot of Revere turnovers which led numerous fast break lay ups. Masco doubled and sometimes triple-teamed Restiano (who was held to six points) to disrupt the Revere offense from the start.
Caramello led Revere with 16 points and Rotger, who was named to the all-tournament team, hit for six.
In the season finale with Medford, the Lady Pats fell by a score of 57-48. Revere found itself in a hole early, allowing Medford to score 12 first quarter points.
“They came out in a box and one defense, face-guarding Gena everywhere on the floor,” said Leonard. “That took us out of our rhythm a bit and we found it hard to ever catch up.”
Revere came out in a man-to-man defense and kept matters tight, but early foul trouble on a few players forced the Lady Pats to sit back in a 2-3 zone for some of the second quarter and most of the third.
Medford utilized good ball movement and hit some baskets from the outside, but with two minutes to go, Revere went back to its full court, man-to-man press that caused some turnovers and allowed the Lady Pats to cut the lead to four. With a minute to go, Revere played some great defense, but with the shot clock ticking down to two seconds, the Lady Patriots were called for a foul on the drive and Medford was able to convert the free throws to seal the win.
The duo of Restiano and Caramello (both of whom represented Revere on the Northeastern Conference All-Star team) struck for 19 and 16 points respectively. For Restiano, the Player of the Year in the NEC, her effort brought her to within 12 points of reaching the 1000 career point plateau.
“It was a tough way to end our season, but in the past week, we’ve played the fourth, fifth, and seventh seeded teams in Division 1 North,” said Leonard.. “Although we didn’t come up on top, we’ve been preparing ourselves for what the tournament will bring.
“I’m excited for the seniors,” continued Leonard. “Four years in a row of qualifying for the tournament is something they should be very proud of. A lot of teams went home over a week ago. This is a great group of basketball players, and more importantly, young ladies. I’m very proud of them.”
Maddrey takes 5th at States, moves on to N.E.
Revere High star high jumper Tarik Maddrey brought home a fifth place medal in the All-State Meet held at the Reggie Lewis Center this past weekend. Tarik cleared the bar at 6′, 4″ to put up four points for the Patriots in the team standings and also qualify himself for the upcoming New England championships.
Three other teammates also competed in the All-State Meet: Karim Sahila finished 12th in the state in the 55 meter hurdles in a time of 8.08 seconds; Bobby Rose, the Northeastern Conference Performer of the Year, finished in 13th spot in the 300 dash in 36.77; and Johnny Lopes long-jumped 18′, 11″ for a finish of 18th place.
RHS hockey team ends season in Newburyport tourney
The Revere High hockey team turned in one of its best performances of the season in last week’s Newburyport Bank Tournament, battling Bishop Fenwick to a 5-5 tie. Junior Marco Mazzarelli lit the lamp three times for the Patriots to notch a hat trick. Teammates Shane Cambria and sophomore Rick Polignone also reached the back of the Fenwick net.
“We played with the kind of effort and energy that we needed all season long,” said RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello. “We made some mistakes, but overall we played very well and I think the team realized what it takes to compete against a top Catholic school.”
In the second game of the tourney, Revere came out on the short end of a 1-0 decision to Shawsheen in the season finale.
“We have a great group of kids, but if we want to play at a high level, we have to be more consistent,” noted Ciccarello. “It will take a lot of work in the off-season for us to get to where we have to be.”
