RHS Sports Roundup 02-19-2020

RHS boys basketball wins fifth straight to  qualify for state tourney
The Revere High boys basketball team completed its amazing run to a berth in the post-season state basketball tournament by winning its fifth straight game with a 62-57 victory over Arlington Catholic in the opening round of the General Patton Tournament at Hamilton-Wenham this past Monday.
The triumph improved the Patriots’ record to 10-9 on the season, assuring coach David Leary and his crew of the .500 record that is needed to qualify for the MIAA post-season state basketball tournament.
Revere came out smoking-hot early with a trio of three-pointers from senior co-captain Robert Raduazzo, junior guard Crisrael Lithgow, and junior forward Dillan Day to go up 9-2. 
AC however, would settle down and run their offense to perfection and got good shot after good shot and found their rhythm. Raduazzo and Lithgow got to the basket for the Patriots, but the Cougars would again knock down shots and took a 16-13 first quarter lead.
Leary emphasized the lack of urgency that the Patriots played with in the first quarter and something must have clicked, because the Patriots went on a huge run to start the second quarter. 
Sophomore forward John Capozzi (13 points, 3-4 from three-point land) lit it up with back-to-back treys, followed by a third three-pointer just minutes later, to boost Revere into a 21-16 advantage, holding AC scoreless in the first three minutes of the quarter. 
Junior forward Dillan Day (12 points, 10 rebounds) then got in on the scoring party and Lithgow knocked down another three-pointer as well, and the Patriots (7-9 on threes in the half) stormed to a 34-26 halftime lead.
The Cougars, already a state tournament team and led by long-time head coach Joel Burke, showed no sense of panic and came out poised after the intermission.
Revere scored the first basket to go up 10, but then it was all AC from there. AC smothered the Revere shooters and the Patriots managed just six points in the third quarter. Arlington Catholic continued to run their offense and got balanced scoring, so that by the end of the third quarter, Revere held a slight edge, 40-39.
Leary stressed the importance of every possession to his team, “We just told the kids going into the fourth quarter to go take it — nobody is going to hand it to you. You want it, go get it!”
The Patriots responded right away as junior forward Calvin Boudreau (seven points, three assists), no stranger to late-game heroics, made a tough shot in the lane. Then Raduazzo (12 points, five rebounds), who was the only Patriot to score in all four quarters, drained a three-pointer to make it 45-39.
Capozzi then flipped in a nice lefty hook shot for Revere to get some breathing room, but AC answered with a quick 5-0 run to cut the lead back to just one point with just over three minutes remaining.
Lithgow (18 points, 4-6 on treys), who had been held scoreless in the third quarter, had a huge three possessions, first nailing a timely three-pointer, then jumping the passing lane for a steal and a layup, and then hitting another deep three-pointer. 
The Patriots led 57-47 with under two minutes remaining and could smell a state tournament bid, but the Cougars clawed back and made consecutive three-pointers after Revere missed two front ends of one-and-ones at the free throw line, cutting the Patriot lead to 57-53 with 25 seconds remaining. 
Finally, Boudreau and Lithgow closed things out at the foul line and gave Revere the hard fought 62-57 victory, their fifth in a row, to punched their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney.
Revere (10-9) was set to play Marblehead (9-10) in the General Patton Tournament Championship last night (Tuesday) and then will wait to see on Friday afternoon where they will be playing in the first round of the State Tournament.
“These kids are amazing,” an emotional Leary said after the state tourney-clinching win. “When we got to 5-9 we (the coaching staff) were not sure which way this would go, but this group has been resilient all year no matter what we have been through. The tougher things get, the closer they come together. This is pretty special. We just told ourselves we have to win one game five times and they believed in each other. They deserve all the credit. They’re a fun group to be around!”  

RHS boys celebrate Senior Night fittingly
Senior Night is always special and last Wednesday night the RHS boys basketball team honored seniors Michael Hayes, Derek Avery, Bobby Kjersgard, Lewiss Garcia-Martinez, co-captain Robert Raduazzo and co-Captain Amara Bockarie, who took the floor at home for the last time. 
Following an emotional pre-game ceremony to honor the six senior cheerleaders, the six senior players, and senior Olivia Freni (who beautifully sang the “National Anthem”) it was time for basketball. 
The Kipp Academy Panthers (13-3) from Lynn did not seemed fazed by the ceremony and were ready from the start. Revere came out quickly with a Derek Avery three-pointer and a nice fast-break finish from Amara Bockarie.
The visiting Panthers would respond however, and tie the game at 7-7 midway through the first quarter. Revere center Lewiss Garcia-Martinez had two nice put- backs at the rim and again Bockarie (eight points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals) seemed to be everywhere. After Amara sank a three-pointer to beat the shot clock, he made a great steal and threw a behind-the-back pass on the break to junior guard Crisrael Lithgow (18 points, four rebounds, four assists ) for the layup to electrify the great home crowd to boost the Patriots into a 16-12 lead after the first period. 
The second quarter was more back and forth as both teams struggled to score early on. Lithgow broke the ice with a deep three-pointer and junior forward Calvin Boudreau made a tough bank shot in the lane to push Revere ahead, 25-21, with 3:23 remaining before halftime.
KIPP again had an answer with a balanced attack as six Panthers scored in the quarter and Revere took a one point lead into the locker room, 27-26.
The close halftime score was no surprise to RHS head coach David Leary. “We expected nothing less,” said Leary. “It was a one point game at KIPP last month and they are a hard-nosed, well-coached team.” 
The Revere offense again struggled to get going coming out of the intermission, but kept up their end of the bargain on defense in the first few minutes. KIPP big man Algha Barry caught fire and drained back-to-back three-pointers with 3:19 remaining in the third frame and KIPP took a 33-30 lead.
Revere junior forward Dillan Day (11 points, five rebounds, 6-7 free throws) finally got going with two straight baskets and a free throw to pull the Patriots ahead, 35-33, with a minute remaining in the third. 
However, KIPP went on a quick burst to end the quarter, which included a three-pointer at the buzzer by senior Panther Winfred Sanchez (19 points), and Revere trailed 39-35. 
Revere entered the fourth quarter with an adjustment and switched to a man-to- man defense after playing zone for three quarters. The move paid off as KIPP could not shake loose from the stifling Patriot defense. With 5:21 remaining, senior co-captain Amara Bockarie stepped up again, knocking down a three-pointer to give Revere a 41-40 lead and seize the momentum for his team on Senior Night. 
Day made a free throw and Lithgow would get to the basket to extend the Patriots’ lead to 44-40 with 3:05 left in the game, but again Sanchez came up huge for KIPP and hit another three to make it a one-point game, 44-43. 
The Revere offense came down and moved the ball around until it found sophomore forward John Capozzi, who took and sank his only three-point attempt of the evening, pushing the lead to 47-43. 
Junior sharpshooter Lithgow found himself open in front of the Revere bench and drained another three-pointer to give the home Patriots a 50-43 edge. KIPP in desperation was able to make another three-pointer, but after another Day free throw, Revere held on for their fourth straight win, 51-46. 
“Anytime you hold a team like KIPP to a seven-point quarter, you give yourself a chance,” said Leary in praise of his team’s defense and his seniors after the game. “We could not find any rhythm on offense, but our defense won us that game tonight. Calvin (Boudreau) was immense on Sanchez in the fourth quarter. And for it to happen like it did for us on Senior Night was pretty special,
“Coach (Bob) Sullivan, Coach (John) Leone, and I were talking about it in the ceremony that this group of seniors was our first four-year group because their freshman year was our first year,” Leary continued. “They’re just a special group of kids. I thought we really fed off of Amara’s energy early. “

RHS hockey team ends on winning note
The Revere High hockey team concluded its 2020 season with a 7-4 victory over Lynn this past Monday afternoon at Cronin Rink.
After spotting Lynn an early 2-0 lead, the Patriots came storming back and soon took control of the contest. Freshman Gerry Visconti scored the first of his two goals on the night and junior James Marini notched the equalizer.
Sophomore Alexio Trichilo then lit the lamp to put the Patriots ahead for good. Although Lynn continued to battle, Revere received additional offensive firepower from senior Matt D’Annolfo, who scored two goals, and Kevin Ivany to cement the victory.
“It’s always nice to end the season with a win,” said EHS head coach Joe Ciccarello, whose squad finished their campaign at 6-10-2, four points short of reaching the post-season state tournament.

Bettero just shy of a medal at D-1; 4 x 2 sets RHS mark
Sophomore hurdler Carolina Bettero finished just short of earning a medal in the 55-meter hurdle event at the Division 1 State Meet that was held last week at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury.
How close was Carolina to making the finals and brining home a medal, which is awarded to the eight finalists? She finished ninth in an official time of 9.21, with the eighth-place girl clocking in at 9.16, a margin of just five/one-hundredths (0.05) of a second.
“Carolina will be running the 400-meter hurdles and the high hurdles in the spring, so she’ll get her shot at redemption in the spring state meet,” said RHS head coach Antonio LaBruna.
Luana Barbosa competed in the long jump and ended up leaping 15′-7″, which is two inches shy of her personal record (PR).
“Luana has been chasing 16 feet for the last couple of weeks, but will have to accomplish that in the spring season,” noted LaBruna.
The Lady Patriot  4 X 200 relay quartet of Barbosa, Kathy Umanzor, Astrid Umanzor, and Jerelys Canales re-broke their school record time of 1:55.52 by running a 1:55.51. 
“The hand-offs could certainly have been better, which would have lowered our time by at least a half second, but it was still a fast time,” said LaBruna.
Also competing for Revere at the meet, which requires contestants to achieve a qualifying standard, was the 4 X 400 squad of Nubya Filho, Kathy Umanzor, Astrid Umanzor, and Bettero, who came across the line in 4:35.41.
The last competition of the indoor season for the Revere girls team will be the Massachusetts State Pentathlon on Feb. 25 at which Canales, Barbosa, and Bettero will be competing as a trio.
On the boys side, Ricardo Goncalves finished in 23rd place in the 55 hurdles in 8.46. Teammate Alaa Atoui finished in 20th spot in the shot-put with a throw of 40′-8.5″.
Coach Sam Ros’s Patriots also competed in all three of the relay events.
In the 4 x 200, the team of Rayan Riazi, Mark Cerbone, Ricardo Goncalves, and Mark Marshese finished in 17th place; in the 4 x 400, the quartet of Augusto Goncalves, Cerbone, Cam Ventura, and Michael Adolphus came across in 18th place;  and in the 4 x 800, the foursome of Christian Madrid, Sami El Asri, Victor Pelatere, and Fabio Tran finished in the 16th spot.