Sports 01-13-2016

Revere Middle School basketball program is off to an impressive start

The Revere Middle School basketball program opened up it’s 2016 season on Monday Jan. 4 at SBA gymnasium against Pickering Middle School from Lynn, and both the boy’s and girl’s teams recorded impressive run away victories.

The Lady Pats led off and jumped out to a 22-7 halftime lead on the way to a dominating 45-9 win.

12 players scored in a balanced offensive display. The squad was led by SBA eighth grader Erika Cheever who finished with 8 points. 2 other SBA ladies, Eve Lescovitz and Alana Nelson were next up with 7 each. The RMA trio of Chloe Giordano, Caroline Stasio, and Frankie D’Angelis dropped 4 points apiece and 5 girls, Katie O’Donnell (RMA), Julia Cincinnato (SBA), Lynzie Anderson (SBA), Grace Dow (SBA), and Ayah Harper all contributed 2  each and Taryn Roberts rounded out the scoring by hitting for 1.

Coach Erin Parker seemed satisfied with her team’s overall effort. They played well together both offensively and defensively.

The boy’s team came out smoking hot and had their way with Pickering on the way to a 70-34 drubbing of their Lynn opponents.

Like the Lady Pats before them, the men also had a dozen players make the score sheet.

Michael Hayes and Scott Toglan, both RMA students, led all scorers with 13 points each. Josh Vasquez (GMS) hit for double figures with 10. RMA 8th grader, but first year Middle School player Jonathon Murphy (younger brother of RHS football star Dan Murphy) was next up hitting for nine. Other players who scored are Amara Bockarie (SBA) with 7, Josh Laurino (SBA), Jarrod Natola, and Dillon Day (GMS) with 4 markers apiece, and Bobby Kjersgard (SBA), Angelo Sepe  (GMS), and Cam Baker (RMA) all chipped in with 2 each.

Coach Erik Maloy was impressed with the play of his troops who showed great offensive fire power evidenced by the fact that they put up 70 points on the scoreboard.

Teams split at   Marshall in Lynn

The Revere Middle School hoop teams, both coming off BIG season opening wins, took the short bus trip to Lynn on Wednesday 1/6 to take on the Mustangs of Marshall Middle School.

The 111 year old  Marshall Gym, which conjures up images of the gym from the movie HOOSIERS, is a dimly lit PIT of a place to play with dead spots all over the floor and boisterous fans sitting right on top of the action. The Marshall teams have a reputation for playing very physical brand of ball and these games would be NO different.

The boys played first and were brimming with confidence and energy coming off the 70 point performance on opening day.

As a result they raced out to a 14-3 lead after 1 quarter, and it looked as if another rout was in the making. However, Marshall had other ideas as they out scored the Jr. Pats 50-26 over the last 3 quarters and went on to a 53-40 victory.

The game was a physical WAR with referees that blew the whistle sparingly. Coach Erik Maloy didn’t blame the loss on the lack of calls, but instead called his team’s 21 turnovers the main reason for the loss.

Only 5 players scored for Revere (after having 12 put up points in their first game) paced by RMA’s Scott Toglan who had 14 hard fought points while playing an excellent game overall with Marshall players draped all over him most of the time.  Next was Josh Vasquez (GMS) who connected on 3- 3 pointers for 9 points. Jon Murphy (RMA) had 8. Mike Hayes went for 7 and Dillon Day (GMS) rounded it out by chipping in with 2.

The boys now stand in at 1-1.

The girl’s game was equally physical, with the refs once again letting lots of things go, but Coach Parker’s jumped on Marshall’s Lady Mustangs by scoring 15 first quarter points and subsequently cruised to a 33-16 victory to stay unbeaten on the season.

Our girls displayed great toughness at times literally fighting off the super physical Marshall squad, but the Lady Pats exhibited tenacious defense forcing the Mustangs to commit 41 (yes 41) turnovers.

For the second straight game Revere had at least 10 players score points paced by Eve Lescovitz and Erika Cheever (both SBA) who shared top honors with 6 points each. RMA’s Caroline Stasio was next up with 5. Nina Cassinello (GMS) dropped 4, and Chloe Giordano went for 3. Four Lady Pats, Katie O’Donnell, Taryn Roberts, Julia Cincinnato, and Ayah Harper all chipped in with 2 apiece, and Alana Nelson finished off the scoring by making a free throw.

The Girls now sit at 2-0 with Archrival Marblehead up next.

RhS sports Roundup

Lady Patriot basketball team now stands at 7-0

With the 2016 season at the one-third mark, the Revere High girls basketball remains undefeated at 7-0 after a pair of victories over Peabody and Marblehead this past week.

Sophomore center Valentina Pepic continued on her path to what surely will rate as an epic season in the annals of Lady Patriot basketball as she powered her way to yet another pair of double-doubles, netting 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against Peabody and forwarding a 20-13 line against Marblehead.

Last Tuesday evening’s contest with Peabody was an early-season showdown with first place on the line in the North Division of the Northeastern Conference. The Lady Patriots entered the fray with a 4-0 mark against NEC North foes, while the Lady Tanners, who always rank among the toughest teams in the NEC, came in with a 3-1 mark.

However, Peabody proved to be of little resistance to Coach Diana Finn’s wrecking crew, who pulled away early, let up a bit in the second quarter, but then went into overdrive after the intermission to cruise to a 70-54 triumph.

“We came out strong in the first few minutes against Peabody, but then let them back into the game by the half (when the score was 32-23 in Revere’s favor),” said RHS head coach Diana Finn. “To start the second half, we pressed them full court to create some turnovers and increase our energy.  We also focused on controlling the boards and winning the 50/50 possessions.”

The strategy paid off as Revere turned its nine point halftime edge into a commanding 53-34 bulge by the third buzzer.

In addition to Pepic’s 24 points, Maritza Scott with 14 and Pam Gonzalez with 12 also reached double figures.  Ally Hinojosa and Adanna Hector both added six points, Tatiana Iacoviello added four, Meaghan Gotham contributed three, and Emily DiGiulio sank a free throw.

As for Friday’s match with Marblehead, which plays in the NEC’s South Division, the Lady Magicians likewise have been ranked among the top teams in the NEC this season, but also were dispatched by the Lady Patriots, 55-39.

Revere led at all of the first three junctures — 8-7, 24-19, and 38-30 — before pulling away in the final frame for the 55-39 triumph.

“Going into this game, we knew Marblehead has a strong starting five and that they’re very aggressive getting to the hoop,” said Finn. “We continued to work for two days on our ball pressure defense and worked to keep the ball out of the middle of the court at the high post.

“We played three-quarters court, man-to-man defense,” continued Finn. “They switched it up from a two-three zone to a one-three-one with a little man defense thrown in.  We passed the ball well, flattened the zone and found the open man.  Defensively, I was proud of how we dug in and defended a tough Marblehead team in man-to-man.  I’m happy about so many of our varsity players stepping up on both ends of the court.  We’re working hard to come together as a team and we have several players who are offensive threats.”

Pepic’s 20 point effort was followed by Hector with 16, Gonzalez with 10, Scott with six, and Natasha Iacoviello with three.

“We didn’t play over break so we were able to push the team’s conditioning and work on some things defensively that we didn’t have the time to do before break,” said Finn. “The team responded as we hoped they would – with toughness and teamwork.  I’m proud of the way we’re starting to come together and individual players are stepping up to improve the overall team effort. “

Finn and her crew were set to take on Swampscott last night (Tuesday) and will trek to Medford this evening. They will host Salem Friday and will play at Winthrop Tuesday.

In addition to the undefeated varsity squad, both the RHS junior varsity and Middle School teams also are undefeated at this point in their seasons.

Ristino nets five goals

in win for RHS hockey

Joe Ristino potted the hat trick plus-two to lead the Revere High hockey team to a 7-5 win over East Boston last Wednesday at Cronin Rink.

“Joe had quite a game,” said RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello of Ristino, who also assisted on the other two Revere goals by Steve Noel and Mike Goroshko to tally seven points on the night.

The Patriots had met Eastie during the Christmas break in the final of a holiday tournament and skated to an easy 6-2 victory after jumping out to a 5-0 lead. However, the visiting Jets proved to be more resilient the second time around and counterpunched effectively to stay close up to the final horn.

Revere had a 2-0 lead after the first period, but the teams traded three goals in the middle stanza to leave matters at 5-3 entering the final 15 minutes. The Patriots made it 6-3 early in the third, but Eastie responded to keep it a two-goal game, 6-4. Revere lit the lamp again, only to have the Jets strike back to close the gap to 7-5.

“We saw a much-better East Boston team this time,” said Ciccarello. “The game was a lot better-played than the first time we met them.”

However, the Patriots did not fare as well Saturday evening against Northeastern Conference rival Saugus.  Saugus jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening frame, scored early in the second period, and eventually pulled away for an 8-1 triumph. Rick Brianna scored the lone Patriot goal.

“They skated hard and jumped on us early,” said Ciccarello “We need to be tougher when we play better teams. Physically and mentally we just are not as tough as we need to be to play this game at the level it takes to win. We certainly are not out of anything yet, but we must find our game, which is hard work and scrappy play all over the ice, and we better find it soon if we want to play in the tourney.”

The Patriots meet Salem tonight (Wednesday) at Salem State College and will host Lynn Saturday at Cronin at 5:10.

Cevallos, Aldarazy win

for RHS boys track team

Nelson Cevallos and Abubakir Aldarazy took first place for the Revere High boys indoor track team in their individual events in last week’s meet with Peabody.

Nelson captured the high jump with a leap of 5’-8” and Abubakir won the 600 dash with a time of 3:36.6, just edging his Peabody opponent by 0.3 of a second.

Two Patriots earned second-place honors, David Sinatra in the 45 hurdles in 6.6 and Zakaria Attioui in the hotly-contested 1000 in 2:56.6. Zakaria finished just behind the winning Peabody runner, who had a time of 2:55.8, and just ahead of the next Tanner runner, who had a clocking of 2:57.2

Amine Maihouane added a point to the Revere cause with a third place effort in the two-mile run in 14:03 and Andy Em scored a point for his third place in the 45 hurdles in 6.9.

Zach Gentile turned in a fine effort in the mile, taking fourth place in 5:13, close behind a trio of Peabody runners who came across in 5:06, 5:07, and 5:09.

The Patriots were set to be back in action this past Monday, hosting Beverly.

Angelisa Nguyen sprints

to victory in Peabody meet

Angelisa Nguyen was the lone individual victor for the Revere High girls track team in their meet last week against Peabody. Angelisa sprinted to victory in the 45 yard dash in 6.0 seconds to claim five points for the Lady Patriots.

Revere’s 4 x 400 relay quartet of Jessica Cambraia, Joselyn Argueta, Helen Perez, Hannah Fitzpatrick also took first place with a time of 4:54.

The other point-scorers for the Lady Patriots were Valentina Montoya with a third place in the high jump with her leap of 4’-2” and Jackie Dion in the two-mile wit a clocking of 14:52.

“We knew how good the Peabody program is beforehand so I used this meet to make some lineup changes and give many of the kids a new look in a different event,” said RHS head coach Anthony LaBruna.

“The highlight of the meet was certainly Angelisa winning the 45 dash,” added LaBruna. “Her time going into the meet was slightly higher than the girl from Peabody, but Angelisa is such a competitor she’s always hard to beat. She hasn’t lost a race this season, but Beverly and Lynn Classical each have multiple sprinters with similar times so those races will be tough challenges in the next couple of weeks.”

LaBruna and his crew were set to face Beverly, the defending Northeastern Conference champion, this past Monday

RHS boys basketball

plays well in close games

The Revere High boys basketball team came close to earning its first victory of the season this past week, but still is chasing its first “W.”

In a 62-58 loss to Marblehead Friday evening, the contest was a nip-and-tuck affair all the way. Revere trailed 17-16 after one quarter and 29-28 at the half. After three frames, the teams stood deadlocked at 47-47, as they engaged in a back-and-forth affair the entire game with both teams seemingly finding their offense at will.

Marblehead had the size advantage while Revere was a faster, more athletic team. Both teams were able to lean on their strengths throughout the contest to get the stops and the buckets they needed. The usual suspects for Revere — Gerald Charles, Marcus Brunson, and Will Bell — scored their points throughout the game as the three combined for 21 points on the night.

However, the big explosion for Revere came from senior Janard Jones, who was hot from start to finish on his way to 27 points including seven three-pointers.

“Jones was amazing for us, a true go-to scorer that we haven’t seen all season,” said RHS head coach Adam Rizzo. “It didn’t matter if they went man or zone, if he was wide open or with a man draped all over him. He was rising up with confidence and knocking down shot after shot. It was a huge performance from our senior captain.”

Two unsung heroes on the night were reserves-turned-starters Brendan Hayes and Josh Flanders. Hayes, a second year member of the varsity team as a junior, is known for his ability to rebound even though being grossly undersized for his position. In limited minutes this season, Hayes has been the pound-for-pound and minute-for-minute best rebounder on the team. He also chipped in two huge three-pointers in the second half to take the lead both times.

“The ball seemingly finds its way to Brendan,” noted Rizzo. “He does a great job of boxing out and getting good position to win on the glass. He’s a great role player that can do a little bit of everything. We don’t have to lean on him or call any plays for him to make him an effective player.”

Flanders was seeing extended minutes for the second time of the week and has taken full advantage of his playing time. A superb athlete, Flanders allows the Revere defense to be more versatile as a whole.

“We have been trying to find ways to get Josh into the games in specific moments throughout the year, but the kid just works too damn hard to not just throw him out there and show us what he can do,” said Rizzo. “He’s on another level athletically than anyone else on our team and we now know that he can be a true rebounder and contest shots at the rim for us. Any points we get from him are extra as he is more than willing to put all his efforts on the defensive end and the glass.”

As the game went back and forth down the stretch, the Patriot offense went cold and Marblehead made just enough plays to seal the win by a narrow 62-58 final score.

“It was the best effort we have had from start to finish, but we just didn’t get it done down the stretch,” said Rizzo. “As a coach, it’s on me to put my guys in the best position to win down the stretch and I didn’t do that. The boys need to hold their heads high and be proud of their effort. I’ll go back and watch the film and learn what I could have done for them.”

While it was a close game, it seemed there was a little home cooking happening for the Magicians. Revere was called for 22 fouls to Marblehead’s nine. The free throw discrepancy was even worse as the home team attempted 29 free throws to Revere’s five.

“I understand we aren’t the most fundamentally-sound defensive team, but we attack the rim a lot off of the dribble and deserved to get the same calls on both ends,” commented Rizzo.”I don’t expect the numbers to be even across the board, but the calls should be made for both teams. As a coaching staff, it was apparent to us that that was not the case.”

After Jones’s 27 point performance, other scorers for Revere were Charles with nine, Brunson, Bell, and Hayes with six each, and Flanders and Mass Joof with two points apiece.

The Patriots also dropped two contests earlier in the week, including a  60-49 decision to Bedford in a non-league matchup. Brunson paced the Patriot offense with 17 points. The quartet of Jones, Bell, Jean-Charles, and Jordi Palma chipped in seven points apiece. Marvin Urdaneta and Flanders added two points each.

“It’s always tough playing against an unfamiliar opponent as you never know what to expect from them,” said Rizzo. “Bedford was young, but very smart and efficient with their possessions. With a very good inside scorer surrounded by three-point shooters, they are tough to stop on the defensive end consistently. At times we would get stops when we needed, but the offense wouldn’t hold up their end of the bargain. With 15 first-half turnovers, we saw us going into the half down, 31-22.

“We stressed ball security and defense in order to get back into this game,” added Rizzo. “With just five second-half turnovers, we got up the necessary shots to have a chance to claw back into the game, but we just couldn’t convert on many of them. We couldn’t stop their big man from scoring in the paint as he poured in 16 of his game-high 24 in the second half. We tried all of our big men on him and then started doubling down, but he either finished through them or found shooters on the outside that made us pay.

“It’s frustrating to lose by 11 points and know that we didn’t even come close to playing our very best,” continued Rizzo. “Right now we are just trying to find the right groupings that will put us in the best position to succeed as a team.

The Pats came out on the short end of 61-36 encounter with Peabody last Tuesday. Revere trailed 21-6 after the first quarter and never got back into it.

Brunson led the away with 12 points, followed by Charles with 10, and Bell with seven. Flanders, Hayes, and Marvin Urdaneta hit for two apiece and Joof sank a free throw.

The Patriots were set to host Swampscott last night (Tuesday) and then travel to Salem Friday before returning home to face Winthrop next Tuesday.

RHS sports Through the Years

10 years ago

January 11, 2006

The RHS hockey earned two impressive victories of 6-0 over Winthrop and 8-4 over Swampscott to improve to 6-1 on the season. Marcus Dow scored a hat trick against Swampscott. Pat Webber scored two goals against Winthrop.

The RHS boys gymnastics team performed well in a 150.2-129.1 loss to Burlington. Sophomore Veasna Deth Chan was the top scorer for Revere with 36.3 points in the all-around.

The RHS boys basketball team defeated Saugus 63-54 for its first win of the season. Eddie Mahoney had a game-high 19 points, Steve Ennamorati added 15, and Rich Cincotti hit for 11.

20 years ago

January 10, 1996

The Revere High hockey team was edged by Medford, 6-5, in a battle between two of the top-rated high school hockey teams in the state before a packed house at Cronin Rink. Nick Mosca scored a hat trick for the Patriots with Dave Patch and Al Barzykowski adding single goals.

The RHS girls basketball team defeated Somerville, 75-74, in an overtime thriller. Freshman Diana DeCristoforo scored the winning basket on a layup with three seconds remaining. Soph guard Kristen Mucci scored 29 points and backcourtmate Lauren Fisher added 15.

The boys basketball team is off to an 0-5 start after a 65-49 loss to Somerville. Sam MacDonald scored 18 points for Revere.

30 years ago

January 8, 1986

Diane Odoardi scored 16 points to lead the RHS girls basketball team to a 50-49 win over Medford. Patrice Misiano scored the winning bucket with one second to go off a pass from Odoardi.

The RHS boys hoop team fell to 0-6 after three losses this week to Medford, 52-51; Winthrop, 59-57; and 55-48 to Waltham. Sal Bottari poured in 30 points against Winthrop.

The RHS hockey team also remains winless after losses to Cambridge, 9-1; Brookline, 5-0; and Brockton, 12-4.

 

40 years ago

January 14, 1976

The RHS hockey team remained undefeated with a 2-1 win over Malden in which Steve DiCarlo and Bruce Piazza scored the goals.

Jimmy Driscoll scored 17 points in the RHS basketball team’s 69-57 loss to Haverhill to remain winless at 0-8.

Former RHS star hockey player Gerry Moschella’s season in the New England Junior Hockey League  has come to an end after suffering a broken leg. Moschella had scored 14 goals in 17 games prior to his injury.

 

60 years ago

January 12, 1966

The RHS basketball team posted its first win of the season with a 48-46 win over Malden.

The RHS hockey team fell to 0-7 after a 6-2 loss to Peabody. Left wing Joe Petriquin scored both goals for Revere.

Billy Flynn was the lone first-place winner for the RHS track team in the shotput with a toss of 44’-7” in a 56-21 loss to Malden Catholic.

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