Sports 01-10-2018

RhS sports Roundup

RHS hockey team splits two contests

It was an up-and-down week for the Revere High hockey team, which split its two games this past week.

Last Wednesday the Patriots edged old Greater Boston League — and new Northeastern Conference — rival Somerville, 4-3, in a contest played at Cronin Rink.

The encounter started out as a breeze for the Patriots, who grabbed a 3-1 advantage in the opening period thanks to two goals by Mike Goroshko and a single tally by Rick Briana.

However, Revere allowed Somerville to get back into the contest in the middle stanza. The Highlanders converted on a power play opportunity and then on a breakaway created when a Highlander player came out of the penalty box. The two lamplighters brought the teams back to level at 3-3 at the second horn.

“We let our guard down and lost our concentration,” said RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello. “Somerville is one of those teams that keeps coming at you, and they took advantage of our complacency.”

However, the Patriots reasserted control in the final 15 minutes and broke through for the game-winner on a goal with five minutes to go by Rob Stoica, who let go a perfect shot from the slot area after getting a nice feed from Mike Giordano.

The Patriots then made the long trek to Gloucester Saturday evening and came out on the short end of a 10-3 decision to a powerful Fishermen team. Goroshko, Mark Giordano, and Corey Rufo scored the Patriot goals.

Ciccarello and his crew will host non-league rival East Boston tonight (Wednesday) at Cronin at 6:30 p.m. and will travel to Lynn Saturday.

 

Fitzpatrick wins mile vs. Malden

Senior captain Hannah Fitzpatrick handily won the mile for the Revere High girls indoor track and field team in the Lady Patriots’ meet with Malden last Wednesday at the Merullo Fieldhouse.

Hannah blazed to victory in a clocking of 5:46.6, more than 37 seconds faster than her closest competitor.

Teammate Lynzie Anderson added three points to the Revere side of the scoresheet with a second place finish in the high jump with a leap of 4’-6”.

Four Lady Patriots contributed single points for the Revere cause with third-place finishes in their individual events: Kiana Napolitano in the dash in 7.3; Kathy Umanzor in the 300 in 52.4; Olivia Novoselsky in the 1000 in 3:59.5; and Yulissa Santana in the two-mile run in 16:39.

The Lady Patriots’ next meet was scheduled for this past Monday at Peabody.

 

Fitzpatrick sets RHS record in 600 dash

Revere High senior captain Hannah Fitzpatrick set a new Revere High School record in the 600-meter dash at the first annual Northeastern Conference Sprint Classic Meet held Dec. 28.

Hannah came across the line in a clocking of 1:44.80, breaking the previous mark of 1:45.85 that was set in 2010.

This is now the third RHS indoor track record that Fitzpatrick has acquired in her outstanding career, the other two being in the 1000 and the 4 X 800 relay.

“Over her four years in this program, Hannah gradually has moved down in distance with great success,” said RHS head coach Antonio LaBruna. “She was running the two-mile and mile a lot as a freshman and then it was more the mile and 1000 during the back-end of her sophomore year and junior season. She’s such a smart kid and nobody works harder. Hopefully, we can lower that record time by season’s end.”

At the recent NEC Freshman/Sophomore Meet, Lynzie Anderson finished in fourth place in the high jump with a leap of 4’-6”.

“Lynzie stood out from the first week of practice when we were introducing the high jump,” noted LaBruna. “She has a natural vertical leaping ability and has consistently jumped 4’-4” in our previous meets. We talked before the meet about 4’-6” being the height that she needed in order to score and you could tell that she was locked in for this meet.”

Sophomore Crystal Valente also scored for Revere in the shot-put, finishing in seventh overall with a personal record (PR) throw of 25’2”.

“Crystal has improved each meet we’ve had,” said LaBruna. “She started the season throwing over 22 feet and has already shown a three-foot improvement in just a few weeks.”

Sophomore hurdler Luana Barbosa also scored for Revere in the 50 meter hurdles.

“Luana was third overall after the trials, but during the finals, she clipped a hurdle with her trail leg and took a nasty fall that resulted in a broken wrist,” said LaBruna. “She got up and still finished the race. She’s a tough kid and we’re definitely going to miss her going forward this season.”

 

Three Patriots take first in meet with Malden

Although the Revere High boys indoor track & field team came up short in a 54-32 loss to Malden, a number of Patriots turned in superb performances.

Sophomore Lucas Barbosa scored eight points for Revere with a first-place finish in the hurdles in 7.1 seconds and a second-place effort in the high jump with a leap of 5’-10”.

Kevin Bardhi grabbed top spot in the shot put with a toss of 39’-2” and Abu Aldarazy outsped the field in the 600 dash in 1:30.0. Jose Agudelo scored three points for Revere with a second-place finish in the 300 dash in 42.5.

Five Patriots added points to the Revere side of the scoresheet with third-place finishes: Nick Sujko with a high jump of 5’-2”; Anthony Soares in the hurdles in 7.7; Arthur Lacerda in the 600 in 1:34.7; Cristian Acuna in the 1000 in 2:59.3; and Christian Madrid in the two-mile in 12:26.

The boys were set to travel to Peabody this past Monday.

 

Boys basketball fall to Peabody

The first quarter struggles continued Wednesday night at Peabody for the Revere High boys basketball team.

The host Tanners jumped out to an early lead, using its pressure defense to create turnovers and mistakes by the young Patriots, and ended the frame with a 20-7 edge.

Revere was off shooting the ball in the second quarter, but calmed down after the early onslaught and stopped turning the ball over to keep the game from getting out of hand. However, Peabody, behind sharp-shooting junior guard Chris Canela (29 points, five three-pointers) took a 32-13 lead into halftime.

Early on in the third quarter it was more of the same, as Peabody pushed the lead to 29 points. Revere switched to a full-court press and finally got some momentum behind the fast-break scoring from sophomore guard E.J. Leone (13 points, six rebounds) and junior forward Omar Bendjahene (10 points, three assists).

The Tanners were still able to win the quarter and held a 51-27 lead heading into the final eight minutes. The Patriots continued to fight hard and pressured the ball all over, and got going offensively with Scott Montefusco (seven points), Marcus Brunson-Perez (eight points), and Devon Avery (eight points) all chipping in to help Revere have their highest-scoring quarter of the season with 29 points.

The final tally at the horn showed Peabody 76-Revere 56.

“We just need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot, especially early on in games,” said RHS head coach David Leary, “You cannot fall behind by double digits in every game early and expect to come back. We just need to defend better, coach better, and play better — that’s the bottom line.

“The fourth quarter was encouraging,” added Leary. “That’s how we need to play.”

Revere traveled to Everett last night (Tuesday) and will host Marblehead Friday. Both contests will tip-off at 7 p.m.

Price-Espada, Pope John Tigers claim Holiday Hoop Classic title

By Cary Shuman

There was no stopping sophomore guard Angel Price-Espada and the Pope John XXIII High School boys basketball team in the 2017 Holiday Hoop Classic on the Tigers’ home court

Price-Espada lit up the scoreboard with 36 points, 28 coming in the first half, as Pope John ran away from Winthrop, 87-65, in the championship game. Price-Espada was also an offensive force with 39 points in a win over Greater Lawrence in the semifinals.

Michael Thompson, a senior co-captain, had 15 points and a crowd-pleasing dunk. Junior guard Cameron Erickson, an excellent outside shooter, scored 12 points while junior forward Luis Velasquez contributed 10 points and six rebounds for the Tigers who improved to 7-1 and loom as one of the favorites in the Division 4 North sectional.

Price-Espada was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after displaying his terrific long-range shooting skills and dazzling dribbling. The 5-foot-7-inch guard is averaging close to 30 points a game.

“It feels good to be MVP, but I was just looking to help our team win,” said Price-Espada, who grew up in Cambridge. “I think our team can go far this season.”

Coach Leo Boucher’s Tigers are the top-ranked team in Division 4 North and they routed a very good Winthrop team that is ranked No. 2 in the division. The two contenders will meet in the final game of the regular season on Feb. 21 in Winthrop and will likely see each other again in the State Tournament.

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