RHS girls basketball team defeats Beverly
The Revere High girls basketball team earned a hard-fought, 48-45 victory at Beverly last Wednesday.
The Lady Patriots trailed for most of the contest, but mounted a surge in the fourth quarter that culminated with a bucket by Katie O’Donnell that tied the game and another hoop by Erika Cheever that proved to be the game-winner.
“Katie and Chloe Giordano were instrumental in slowing down Beverly’s offensive attack and we got multiple looks on offense thanks to the outstanding rebounding of Emily DiGiulio and Caroline Stasio,” said RHS head coach Matt Willis. “Soleil Yuong was a key piece in our preparation for the game, as she represented Beverly’s top scorer in practice.”
Willis and his crew hit the road the following night to Danvers, but came up on the short end of a 48-32 decision.
“We had a solid start, but then had a rough second quarter and never recovered,” noted Willis. “Alanna Nelson was a spark off the bench with a couple of threes to give us some energy. Lynzie Anderson and Isabella Cuartas gave us some toughness off bench.”
The Lady Patriots now stand at 11-7 on the season and were set to play in a vacation week tournament at Beverly High Sunday and Monday. They played Bishop Fenwick Sunday afternoon and were set to face either Beverly or Masconomet on Monday.
Revere then will await announcement later this week of their seeding and first-round opponent in the Division 1 North Sectional of the upcoming state basketball tournament.
Seniors conclude basketball careers
Thursday night was all about the seniors of the Revere High boys basketball team when the Patriots hosted the Danvers Falcons at the Merullo Fieldhouse.
Seniors Wilkens Altenor, Andres Mejia, Johnny Leone, Donato Colarossi, Nick Ciciulla, Omar Bendjahene, co-captain Sebastian Vanessa, and co-captain Scotty Montefusco were playing in the final home game of their high school careers and they came out on fire.
Surging to an early 12-2 lead, Revere’s starting five (all seniors) all scored in the opening two minutes. Co-captains Sebastian Vanegas and Scotty Montefusco both drained three-pointers, Omar Bendjahene made a couple of athletic finishes around the basket, and center Nick Ciciulla put in a layup, while Donato Colarossi knocked down his free throws.
The early flurry forced Danvers to call an early timeout to try to settle down. The Falcons started to make three-pointers of their own (Danvers was 13-17 from three-point land on the night) and got right back into the game.
Revere led 20-18 after one quarter of play, the Patriot’ highest-scoring quarter of the season. “It was an emotional night for our guys,” said RHS head coach David Leary. “Most of them have played in this program all four years and they clearly played that way to start the game.â€
However, Danvers maintained their “unconscious” shooting from outside, draining their first nine three-point attempts. The Patriots on the other hand, cooled down after the fast start and fell behind 40-31 heading into the intermission.
The second half began well for Revere behind the hot hands of Sebastian Vanegas (11 points) and Omar Bendjahene (17 points, seven rebounds in his return from a three-week injury), who knocked down back-to-back treys.
When RHS center Andres Mejia made outback basket, Revere had trimmed the deficit to five.
The Falcons, who entered the game needing a win to stay alive in their race to qualify for the state tournament, then resumed their hot shooting and flew out to a 61-39 advantage at the third buzzer.
Revere guard Wilkens Altenor started the fourth quarter with two nice moves to the basket and Scotty Montefusco (seven points) knocked down another three-pointer to cut the lead to 61-46 midway through the final quarter.
Patriot forward Johnny Leone (two blocks, six rebounds) played some tough defense on the Danvers shooters and Bendjahene got to the basket a few more times to cut the deficit to 13, 65-52, with three minutes remaining.
However, the Falcons once again found their touch shooting the ball and closed the game out with a 73-56 win.
“Although the game did not go the way we would have liked, it was a great night for our program and our seniors,” said Leary, who decided to play only his eight seniors in the game instead of his usual substitution rotation.. “They have committed to this team for a long time and it was nice to honor them with their families. They will always remember this night.”
Leary and his crew were set to close out their season this past Monday and Tuesday (last night) at Hamilton-Wenham in the annual General Patton Tournament.
Luana Barbosa competes for RHS girls at D-1 State Meet
Revere high jumper Luana Barbosa was the lone participant for the Lady Patriot indoor track & field team at this past week’s Division 1 State Meet held at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Luana tied her personal record (PR) by clearing 4′-10″ to finish in 20th place among the field.
“Luana had a great attempt at five feet, but clipped the bar with her legs,” said RHS head coach Antonio LaBruna. “It was a great experience for her and she’ll be back in this meet her senior year. The RHS school record for the indoor high jump is 5′-1″ set back in 2006. She is certainly capable of clearing that height.”
Patriots compete at D-1 State Track Meet
A contingent of members of the Revere High indoor track & field team competed at the Division 1 State Meet held last week at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Junior Antony Arias qualified in two individual events, the 55 meter hurdles and the long jump. Antony finished 13th in the long jump with a leap of 19′-8.5″ and finished in 27th position in the hurdles in a clocking of 8.68 seconds.
Arias also ran the opening leg for the RHS 4 x 400 relay quartet, where he was joined by freshman Victor Pelatere, senior Sam Gonzalez, and freshman Augusto Goncalves. The foursome finished in 20th place in a time of 3:42.
Pelatere did double duty in the relays, running the opening leg of the Patriot 4 x 800 squad. Junior Fabio Tran, junior Christian Madrid, and senior Jonathan Nushi were the other three Patriots, crossing the line in 22nd place with a clocking of 8:59.
RHS hockey team skates past Eastie
The Revere High hockey team skated to an easy victory this past Saturday, cruising past East Boston, 10-0, on the latter’s home ice at Lieut. Porazzo Memorial Rink.
RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello used his younger players liberally throughout the contest. Freshmen Chris Santini and Matt Bozzi and sophomore Jared Swanson provided the scoring punch for the Pats.
Ciccarello and his crew will conclude their season in the coming week. They were set to play at Peabody today (Wednesday) and will host Beverly on Friday evening with a face-off at 4:30 at Cronin Rink.
Del Rio finishes ninth at State Meet
Revere High sophomore David Del Rio capped a superb season with a ninth place finish in the 100-meter backstroke at the State Championship Meet held this past week at Boston University.
“David entered the meet as the 17th seed among the 20 competitors, but he turned in a season-best time of 56.60 to finish in the ninth spot,” said RHS head coach Chris Hill. “It was a great result.”
Post-season accolades poured in for Del Rio and other members of the RHS squad with the announcement of their selection to the Northeastern Conference all-conference and all-star teams.
All-conference selections are Del Rio, William Arias, Ashto Hoang, Andrey Carvalhais, and Leila Cesic.
All-star team selectees are Isabella Veraldi and RekedCaushaj.
