RHS Sports Roundup

RHS Boys Playing Hard, Searching for Win

The Revere High boys basketball team is showing improvement each and every day, but are still searching for their first win of the abbreviated winter season.

Last Monday night the Patriots traveled to Everett and played right there with the young and talented Crimson Tide. Trailing 25-20 with under two minutes left in the first half, Everett picked up its defensive pressure and stunned the senior-heavy Revere squad with their speed and athleticism. Everett took a 32-20 lead into halftime and never looked back en route to a 73-34 victory.

Junior guard James Clauto led the Patriots with 11 points, while seniors Dillan Day (six points, six rebounds), Jarrod Natola (four points, four rebounds), and Steven Leone (five points) all chipped in with nice contributions.

Next up for Revere was the defending Division 1 state champion Lynn English Bulldogs last Wednesday night at Merullo Fieldhouse. The undersized Patriots fought hard in the first quarter, holding Lynn English to its lowest-scoring quarter in two years, but still trailed, 11-4, after the period.

Unfortunately for the home team, the talented Bulldogs found their touch and began to dominate on the boards. Revere continued to play hard and compete, but their inability to make shots, combined with the pressure defense applied by English, proved too much and the game got out of hand, with the final score standing at 82-22.

“We needed to play almost-perfect basketball, especially early on, to compete with the speed and athleticism of Everett and English,” said RHS head coach David Leary. “Unfortunately, when you don’t make shots, things can snowball pretty quickly. I know this however: We have a great group of tough seniors who will work hard to improve and it’s a pleasure being together finally. I know we will bounce back.”

Friday night Revere would get their chance to bounce back as they traveled to Medford High School to take on the Mustangs. The Patriots had swept the season series last year, so they knew going in that Medford would be up for the game and would have to match their intensity right away.

Medford jumped out early and Revere struggled with 13 turnovers in the first quarter, leading to 12 points and a 17-4 first quarter advantage for the hosts. 

Revere would calm down in the second quarter and would play outstanding defense, holding Medford to just seven points in the frame, but the Patriots just could not buy a basket and trailed 24-10 at halftime. 

“We really struggled again to make shots consistently enough to go on runs and get ourselves back in the game, but our defense kept us in it,” said Leary. 

That is exactly what happened in the third quarter as Revere kept up the tough defense and, after a Jafar Barry three-pointer, a Jack D’Ambrosio drive to the basket, and a traditional three-point play from senior captain Dillan Day, the Patriots had climbed back into the game and trailed 29-21 heading into the final quarter. 

Senior Randy Urdaneta opened up the fourth period with a three-pointer to cut it to just a five point deficit and junior guard James Clauto (nine points) made two nice fast break layups from assists by senior co-captain Calvin Boudreau (10 rebounds, four assists, four steals) to keep Revere within striking distance.

However, the Mustangs made their free throws down the stretch to hold on for a low-scoring win, 37-28.

 â€œThe kids are competing hard,” said Leary. “But sometimes when the shots do not fall, it can demoralize a team. But we stuck with it and got it to a two-possession game in the last few minutes, but they scored more points in the end.” 

This past Monday night, the Patriots took the short bus ride to Malden and were looking for a fresh start after a tough previous week. The Patriots again got off to a slow start and Malden began to knock down three-pointers. Revere responded with a few layups from seniors Louis Cardoza, Randy Urdaneta, Calvin Boudreau, and Dillan Day to get back in the game and trailed 13-9 after the first eight minutes.

The second quarter offense for Revere was much better, as Jafar Barry and Randy Urdaneta (seven points) knocked down consecutive treys to put Revere ahead. Junior guard James Clauto (eight points) then made a steal and flew in for a layup to extend the lead to five points for the Patriots. Senior guard Marco Cerbone also chipped-in with two nice drives to the basket and Revere went into halftime feeling better and trailing by just one, 25-24.

The third quarter remained positive for Revere as Clauto, Richie DiMarzo, Cerbone, and Dillan Day all scored off assists from Calvin Boudreau (10 rebounds, five assists, four steals) The Patriots had found their groove and took their largest lead of the season into the fourth quarter, 37-32.

“Our bench — Jafar, Randy, and especially Marco — came up big for us and gave us a spark,” noted Leary. “We are going to need that moving forward if we want to keep improving as a team.” 

Marco Cerbone (15 points) made two layups and a three-pointer down the stretch to keep Malden at bay, but it was not quite enough. After a Malden 10-0 run to take a five point lead, Revere fought back and scored on three straight possessions, capped by a Dillan Day fancy reverse layup with just under a minute to go to boost the Pats into a two-point lead. 

Malden missed on its next possession and began to foul intentionally to stop the clock. After a missed Revere free throw on a one-and-one, Malden guard Jean Dalencour pushed the ball up the floor and threw up a tough corner three-pointer with 10 seconds left to put the Golden Tornados up by one, 51-50.

The Patriots tried to inbound the ball to push it back, but turned the ball over and had to foul to stop the clock. Malden made one free throw and after a timeout, Revere tried to run one last desperation play the length of the court, but the shot rimmed out and Malden hung on for a 52-50 win.

“We are disappointed in the result, but sometimes in this game you just have to tip your hat,” said Leary of the frantic ending to the game. “Malden made the big plays and the big shots in crunch time. We knew coming in both teams were pretty evenly-matched in size and talent and that it would be a dog fight. We just have to learn from this one and continue to grind everyday.” 

Revere was set to travel to Medford last night (Tuesday) and then will host Malden Friday night for Senior Night. Those festivities will get underway at 3:45 and the game will be at 4 p.m. on RevereTV YouTube.

RHS Hockey Battles Well in Medford Contest

Although the Revere High hockey team came up on the short end of a 4-1 decision to Medford last Saturday at Allied Veterans Rink, RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello saw a lot of positive signs from his team’s performance.

“We got off to a slow start, but then played them evenly the rest of the way,” said Ciccarello. “We have a young team — we have six freshmen in the lineup — but they played hard after getting down and held our own against a very good Medford team.”

After spotting the Mustangs the first three goals, Patriot Alexio Trichilo reached the back of the Medford net with a shot from the slot, assisted by James Marini. 

Medford then scored a fluke goal with 30 seconds left in the first half (the format for hockey this spring features two halves of 22:30, instead of three, 15-minute periods) to move out to a 4-1 advantage.

“That fourth goal was a killer,” noted Ciccarello. “We had been building the momentum after Alexio’s goal, but that goal made a comeback very difficult.”

Still, the Patriots played hard in the second half, but could not light the lamp again despite some excellent opportunities, including a pair of breakaways.

“I was pleased with our effort, despite the outcome,” Ciccarello noted. “We have a great group of kids who work hard and enjoy playing the game.”

Ciccarello and his crew, who are 1-1 on the season, were set to take on Everett last night (Tuesday) and will meet Somerville Saturday afternoon for a “home” game at Allied Veterans Rink in Everett that will be highlighted by Senior Day festivities.

The Patriots then will meet Lynn next Tuesday.

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