Sports 01-16-2019

RHS Sports Roundup

RHS hockey team thumps Everett, 8-4

The Revere High hockey team broke into the win column in a big way with an 8-4 victory over former Greater Boston League and current Northeastern Conference rival Everett last Wednesday at Cronin Rink.

The Patriots jumped out quickly to a 5-0 lead after the first period and never looked back. RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello liberally used all of his back-up players starting in the second period.

Rick Briana and Zach Rufo scored two goals each for Revere. Wayne Cintolo, Joe Papsadora, Cam Mazza, and freshman Alexio Trichilo (Alexio’s first varsity goal) all took turns lighting the lamp.

Goalies J.T. Bowdridge and Tristian Goroshko split the duties in the net to share the victory.

“It felt good to get that first win and to give all the boys some ice time,” noted Ciccarello,

Three nights later, the Patriots engaged in a hard-fought encounter with Lynn, a combination of Lynn English and Lynn Classical, but came up on the short end of a 6-3 decision.

The contest was a see-saw battle for most of the game.

Lynn struck first early in the opening period, but the Patriots soon responded to deadlock matters at 1-1.

That pattern continued until the start of the third period. Lynn had scored with less than a minute to go in the second period to take a 4-3 lead and then scored the initial goal of the third stanza to take a two-goal advantage for the first time in the game.

“That goal just before the end of the second period changed the momentum of the game,” said Ciccarello. “We had tied it at 3-3 and kept up the pressure in their end with some good scoring chances, but we couldn’t score to take the lead.”

When Lynn expanded its margin to 5-3 in the third period, the Patriots were unable to respond and Lynn added an extra insurance tally for the 6-3 finale.

“All in all, we played well,” noted Ciccarello. “We fought hard and gave it our best.”

Cintolo scored two goals and Briana reached the back of the net for a goal to account for the Patriots’ offense.

Ciccarello and his crew will engage in a rematch with Everett this evening (Wednesday) on the latter’s home ice at Allied Veterans Rink. The Patriots will travel to Salem State College to meet Swampscott on Saturday afternoon and return to Cronin next Wednesday to entertain Somerville for a 5:30 p.m. face-off.

Bockarie keys Patriots’ rally down the stretch for win over Marblehead

Junior guard Amara Bockarie scored six points and dished out three assists, all coming late in the fourth quarter, to lead the Revere High boys basketball team to a hard-fought, 37-32 victory at Marblehead Friday night.

As has been the case in many games this season, the Patriots struggled to score, but their tough, hard-nosed defense kept them in the game.

Marblehead grabbed an early 9-3 lead, but sophomore forward Dillan Day nailed a three-pointer from the corner and sank two free throws to draw Revere within one, 9-8, at the first buzzer.

The second quarter proved more of the same, with the Patriots netting just five points on a three-pointer by Johnny Leone and a put-back by sophomore forward Wilfredo Martinez (four points, four rebounds for the night). But once again, the Revere  defensive effort kept the Pats within striking range, as they trailed only 17-14 at halftime.

“We were searching for offense,” said RHS head coach David Leary. “We were getting good looks, but just not converting. We challenged the seniors at halftime to lead us in the second half.”

The members of the Class of 2019 did not disappoint. Senior center Nick Ciciulla (six points, 10 rebounds) scored all of his points in the third quarter and senior guard Scotty Montefusco (nine points for the night) drained a pair of treys and hit a free throw.

The duo combined for all of Revere’s 13 points in the frame, boosting the Patriots into a 27-27 deadlock heading into the final eight minutes of play.

The Magicians opened up the fourth quarter scoring the first five points, with Revere once again going cold from the floor, to move out to a 32-27 advantage.

At that point Leary inserted Bockarie into the game and the junior soon provided the spark the Patriots had been seeking all night. Amara penetrated through the tough Marblehead defense for two quick baskets to cut the deficit to 32-31 with 2:30 left in the game.

Marblehead made an adjustment after a timeout and went to a 2-3 zone, but Bockarie calmly recognized it and hit Martinez on the baseline with a look-away bullet pass to give Revere its first lead of the night, 33-32.

After another Patriot defensive stop, Amara found senior forward Omar Bendjahene for a basket to give Revere a 35-32 lead. Then, as the shot clock ran down on Revere’s next possession, Bockarie calmly swished a pull-up jump shot to complete the comeback and the win, 37-32.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it,” said Leary. “We were searching all night for the right combination on the floor and we found it in the fourth quarter, led by Amara of course. He was the spark we needed.

“This was a total team effort,” continued the coach. “Junior forward Scott Toglan was huge for us defensively and on the boards in the last quarter. EJ Leone did a great job for us all night, holding Marblehead’s leading scorer, Devin Romain (16 ppg.), to just four points. We will continue to work hard and improve, but we are proud of how these boys compete every night.”

Last Tuesday the Crimson Tide of Everett came into Revere as a heavy favorite, but that did not phase the home team.

The Patriots started off ready to go and jumped out to an early 7-2 lead when Montefusco knocked down a three-pointer and junior guard EJ Leone made an athletic move to the basket.

When Martinez (seven points, four rebounds) then made a hoop with a highlight-reel spin move and pass from Day, the visitors had to call an early timeout.

Everett made some adjustments and ended up closing out the quarter with a 15-9 lead.

The second quarter proved a low-scoring, back-and-forth sort of game, but Everett would take a 25-17 lead heading into the locker room at the break.

 â€œWe really competed hard in the first half, the whole game actually, but we settled for some tough shots instead of making the extra pass,” Leary said.

The third quarter was a mirror image of the second, as neither team could put together a string of baskets. Patriot senior forward Omar Bendjahene (12 points, six rebounds) got going with a few nice drives to the basket, but Everett would close out the quarter with a few offensive rebounds and put backs to move out to a 34-25 lead going into the final quarter.

Revere opened the final eight minutes with a 5-0 run behind a three-pointer from senior guard Wilkens Altenor and another basket from Bendjahene to cut the deficit to 34-30 with six minutes left, but that was as close as the Patriots would get.

Everett controlled the next few minutes and led by eight with three minutes remaining. Revere began to foul to conserve some time, but the Crimson Tide converted on their free throws down the stretch and left with a 47-30 victory.

“We do not believe in moral victories, but we showed a lot of fight tonight,” said Leary. “The team executed the game plan defensively perfectly, but when you don’t make shots, it’s tough to sustain enough consistency to win. We will continue to work and improve our offense, but I like the way these guys are committing on the defensive end.”

The win puts Revere at 4-5 (3-3 NEC) on the season. Leary and his crew will travel to Lynn Classical Friday evening and then to Winthrop Tuesday evening. Tip-off for both games is the usual 7:00.

Girls basketball defeats Marblehead

The Revere High girls basketball team turned in a well-balanced scoring effort to defeat Marblehead, 58-37, this past Friday evening on their home floor at the Merullo Field House.

Lady Patriot junior captain Erika Cheever quickly set the tone for the night, scoring 10 points in rapid fashion to get Revere off-and-running.

The visiting Lady Magicians decided at that point to give Erika some special attention and began to face-guard her. Although Cheever finished the game in double figures with a game-high 18 points, her teammates picked up the pace in the scoring column: Emily DiGiulio and Skyla DeSimone hit for eight points apiece, followed by Chloe Giordano with seven, Carolina Bettero with six, Katie O’Donnell with five, Caroline Stasio and Alanna Nelson with three each, and Nina Cassinello with two.

The Lady Patriots’ defensive effort likewise was solid, forcing Marblehead to commit 23 turnovers on the night.

Three nights earlier last Tuesday, Revere dropped a hard-fought, 43-38 battle at Everett. Cheever led Revere in scoring with 17 points and Stasio had a monster night on the boards, pulling down 21 rebounds.

Coach Matt Willis and his crew, who now are 4-4 as the season approaches the halfway mark, will host Lynn Classical this Friday evening. Tip-off is set for 7:00.

The Lady Patriots will entertain Winthrop on Tuesday and travel to non-league foe Melrose on Wednesday.

RHS swimmers top Lynn English, 96-77

The Revere High swim team earned a 96-77 victory over Lynn English last Tuesday.

Among the highlights for the Patriots were triumphs in all three of the relays. The foursome of David del Rio, Leila Cesic, Andrey Carvalhais, and Jeffery Martinez won the 200 medley; the quartet of William Arias, Cesic, Martinez, and Reked Caushaj captured the 200 free relay; and Del Rio, Arias, Caushaj, and Carvalhais took first in the 400 free relay.

Among the top individual performers were Arias, who took first in the 50 and 100 freestyle; Carvalhais, who continued to dominate in the 100 fly; and Del Rio, who outswam the field in the 100 backstroke.

This past Thursday the Patriots lost a very close meet with conference power Beverly, 100-81.

Among the top Revere performances, the 200 free relay team of Isabella Veraldi, Cesic, Sonia Salazar, and Olivia Winsor qualified for sectionals.  The 200 medley relay was won by Del Rio, Ashton Haung, Carvalhais, and Caushaj by a massive eight seconds.

Del Rio and Carvalhais both scored wins in the 100 back and 100 fly respectively.

Coach Chris Hill and his crew were set to travel to Peabody yesterday (Tuesday).

RHS girls track competes at Peabody

The Revere High girls indoor track & field team trekked to Peabody last Thursday to take on the Lady Tanners, one of the top teams in the Northeastern Conference.

Kiana Napolitano and Fatima Hartout were the top performers for the Lady Patriots with first-place finishes in their individual events.

Kiana top the field in the shot put with a toss of 27’-5”. She also earned three points for a second-place finish in the 45 yard dash in a time of 6.1 seconds.

Fatima outran the field in the two-mile event in a clocking of 14:12.

Three other Lady Patriots added three points to the Revere total with second-place performances: Crystal Valente with a shot put throw of 26 feet; Jessica Vo in the 45 yard hurdles in 7.9; and Olivia Novoselsky in the 1000 in 3:14.4.

Adding single points to the Revere cause with third-place finishes were: Vivian Le in the the 45 yard hurdles in 8.3; Emily DeMauro in the 300 dash in 50.6; thalia Ramos in the 600 in 2:01.2; and Eliya Godfrey in the mile in 7:12.2. 

The Lady Patriots were scheduled to host Gloucester yesterday (Tuesday) and will entertain Beverly next Wednesday.

Madrid wins for RHS boys track

Christian Madrid was the lone victor in an individual event for the Revere High boys track indoor track & field team in their meet at Peabody last week.

Christian won the two mile run with a clocking of 11:25.4. Teammate Fabio Tran took second in that race with his time of 11:32.1.

Lucas Barbosa took second place in the high jump with his leap of 5’-7” and Antony Arias earned three points for his second-place performance in the 300 dash in a clocking of 40.6.

Both also grabbed a third place in another event, with Antony scoring a point in the high jump, crossing the bar at 5’-2” and Lucas doing likewise in the 45 yard dash in 5.5.

Other Patriots who added single points to the RHS side of the scoresheet with third-place finishes were Rayan Riazi in the 45 yard hurdles in 6.7 and Augusto Conclaves in the 600 dash in 1:41.3.

The RHS 4 x 400 relay quartet defeated their Peabody counterparts with a time of 4:13.7, which was 12 seconds faster than their Tanner foes.

The Patriots were set to be back on the track yesterday (Tuesday) at the Merullo Fieldhouse against Gloucester and will host Beverly next Wednesday.