RHS Girls Basketball Opens with Two Wins
The Revere High girls basketball team opened its 2022 season in fine fashion under new head coach Chris Porrazzo with a pair of victories over Greater Boston League rivals Everett and Somerville this past week.
In the season-opener against defending GBL champion Everett last Tuesday, the Lady Patriots came away with a 62-39 triumph.
Senior captain Carolina Carvalho-Bettero turned in a powerful all-around performance, pouring in 26 points, grabbing seven rebounds, and nabbing four steals.
Freshman Belma Velic achieved a double-double in her varsity debut, hitting for 16 points and pulling down 14 boards.
Sophomore captain Haley Belloise also reached double figures in the scoring column, striking for 14 points. Haley also grabbed three rebounds and made three steals.
“The team was very motivated to open up the season against Everett,” said Porrazzo. “Everett won the GBL in the shortened season last spring and we knew we had our work cut out for us.
“We might have been a little too amped to start the game and during our first couple of possessions we were a little out of rhythm,” Porrazzo added.
“I think when Elaysia (Lung) stepped up to the free throw line and calmly knocked down two free throws to get us on the board, it really helped us settle down,” Porrazzo continued. “She’s such a steady presence for us. Her impact on the game may not always show up on the stat sheet, but Elaysia does all the little things and all the dirty work that make her a pivotal part of our program.
“After those free throws we really hit the gas. I liked our ball movement and the way we ran the floor, but our defense was really the key to our win,” Porrazzo noted.
Two nights later, the Lady Patriots easily dispatched Somerville, 56-20.
Carvalho-Bettero hit for 14 points to go with four rebounds and three steals. Senior captain Skyla DeSimone was a terror on defense with seven steals Skyla added five points and three assists to the winning effort.
Scrappy sophomore Bella Stama also made a nice contribution to the Revere cause with four points, three steals, two rebounds, and two blocked shots.
“We wanted to avoid a letdown against Somerville and we did that pretty emphatically from the jump,” said Porrazzo. “Our defense created a lot of pressure up and down the court which generated most of our offense.
“As a coaching staff, we like how the team opened up the season, but we know we have lots of areas to improve,” said the coach. “We are happy to be 2-0 and now we know we have a tall task ahead of us playing Lynn Classical on the road. That’s not an easy place to play and they are an extremely well-coached team. Our players are preparing, working hard, and will certainly be up for the challenge.”
Porrazzo and his crew were scheduled to take on the Lady Rams last night (Tuesday) and then will play in a holiday tournament in No. Reading next week Monday and Tuesday.
Girls Track Team Runs Past Everett
The Revere High girls indoor track team defeated Greater Boston League rival Everett in their home and season opener this past Friday by a score of 52-29 at the Merullo Fieldhouse.
First-place finishers for the Lady Patriots were: Liv Yuong in the 50 yard hurdles with a clocking of 9.1 seconds; Kyra Delaney in the 300 meter dash in a time of 49.8; Yasmin Riazi in the 600 meter dash in 2:05.2; captain Alannah Burke in the 1000 meter run in 3:37.2; and Rocio Gonzalez in the mile in 6:43.3.
Second-place finishes for Revere were recorded by: captain Jerelys Canales in the 50 yard dash; Jessie Jones in the 300; Hiba El Bzyouy in the 600; captain Fatima Hartout in the mile; and Liv Yuong in the high jump.
The 4 x 400 relay team of Y. Riazi, K. Delaney, J.Jones, and A. Burke topped their Everett counterparts with a winning time of 5:00.3.
Coach Racquel MacDonald’s squad also has competed in two invitational meets at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston at which some of the team members posted some excellent personal records (PR).
Captain Alannah Burke ran a 3:26.29 in the 1000, which puts Alannah only 0.6 of a second away from a state-qualifying time.
Other PRs for the Revere girls included: Yasmin Riazi in the 600 with a PR of 2:03.20; Kyra Delaney in the 300 with a PR of 48.48; and Jessie Jones in the 300 with a PR of 49.50.
“There’s great talent on the team this year and we’re looking forward to a great season,” said MacDonald, who herself was a star performer for the RHS girls track program in the early part of the last decade.
MacDonald and her crew are scheduled to compete at Somerville today (Wednesday) and will entertain Lynn Classical next Wednesday.
Strong Outings for RHS Boys Basketball in Season-Opening Week
The Revere High boys basketball team turned in a pair of impressive performances in their season-opening week against Greater Boston League rivals Everett and Somerville.
Coach David Leary’s squad put up a strong fight against Everett last Tuesday before falling by a score of 67-53 (a final result that was not remotely reflective of the close battle that prevailed until the closing minutes) and then came back two nights later to take the measure of Somerville, 46-37.
Revere, whose season ended at Everett last year in the GBL playoffs, was looking for revenge in the 2022 opener and the Patriots came out on fire early.
Playing aggressive full-court, pressure defense and behind the lights-out shooting by senior tri-captain Jack D’Ambrosio, who had 12 points in the opening quarter, the Patriots jumped out to an early 13-3 lead.
Everett called a timeout to try to stop the momentum and that worked briefly until RHS senior tri-captain James Clauto (seven points, four assists, six steals) had a nice, athletic finish plus the foul and senior forward Ramadan Barry had a nice finish on the fast break to give the Patriots a 17-7 lead to end the first quarter.
The first few minutes of period two were played pretty evenly as the teams exchanged baskets, but Revere would run into some foul trouble thanks to being a little bit overly-aggressive in the press defense.
The Crimson Tide made their free throws and were able to trim the lead to four points midway through the second quarter.
The Patriots would need other players to step up and that is exactly what they got before halftime, as senior center Jean Saint Dick had a nice finish inside; junior guard Domenic Boudreau (five points, five rebounds) had a nice pull-up jumper in the lane; junior sharpshooter Sal DeAngelis (six points, three assists) knocked down a big three-point shot on the fast break; and sophomore forward Glen Kule also drained a three-pointer to push the Patriots’ lead to 27-20 with two minutes remaining before the half.
However, Everett began to employ their own full-court press that created Revere turnovers. The Crimson Tide also continued to make their free throws and the combination really hurt the Patriots, as Everett cut the lead to just 29-27 at halftime, despite falling way behind early.
RHS head Coach David Leary was encouraged by the early start, but disappointed with the mistakes.
“We played with great energy and Jack (D’Ambrosio) was on fire early, but we turned it over way too much and our fouling allowed them back in the game,” said Leary.
Everett hit for only five baskets in the first half and none in the first quarter, but made 17 free throws in the half. The Patriots had four starters with two or more fouls at halftime and committed 17 turnovers.
Revere was able to start the second half with its normal starting five and D’Ambrosio (21 points, six rebounds) found his hot hand again with two nice drives to the hoop and another three-pointer.
However, Everett began to rev up its offense as well, as Roger Vasquez (25 points) and John Monexant (15 points) both found their shooting touch after a quiet first half.
Revere still led, 36-32, midway through the third frame, but the Crimson Tide continued to pressure the ball and created more Revere turnovers.
Other than a jump shot and free throw by DeAngelis and a Boudreau free throw, the Patriots’ offense went cold to end the quarter and Everett finally stole the lead, 43-40, heading into the final quarter.
The two teams again went back and forth early, as Revere senior center Hamza Ghoul had a nice put-back layup. Vasquez and Monexant hit two tough shots in the lane for Everett and then Revere senior forward Ramadan Barry (seven points) knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key and made a nice baseline drive for a layup to keep Revere close, 51-47, with four minutes remaining.
Everett made two steals and layups to push the lead to 55-47. After a Revere timeout, Clauto made a high-flying layup and then two more free throws to keep Revere in it, and with 2:48 left on the clock, Everett clung to a slim 55-51 lead.
Unfortunately for the Patriots, Everett made two three-pointers down the stretch and all of their free throws, while Revere would only get a pair of free throws from D’Ambrosio to close the game out, leaving Everett on the winning end, 67-53.
“We can take a lot of positives out of this game,” said Leary. “We came in with only two guys (Clauto and D’Ambrosio) with any varsity experience and were able to compete with a very talented and experienced Everett team. We obviously have a lot of work to do, but this was a big first step. We are proud of these guys and we just need to keep grinding.”
Two nights later on Thursday, the Patriots rebounded with a 46-37 triumph at Somerville.
The Patriots got off to a slow start. Somerville did a nice job in their half court man-to-man defense, denying senior tri-captains Jack D’Ambrosio, Ihssan Mourourane, and James Clauto from getting the ball and any good looks at the basket.
Fortunately for Revere, the Pats’ pressure defense was excellent, so Somerville likewise was not scoring.
D’Ambrosio (nine points, eight rebounds) finally got Revere going with a fast break layup and a put-back.
Mourourane sank two free throws and junior guard Sal DeAngelis (eight points, four assists) nailed a deep three-pointer and a free throw and the Patriots led 10-7 after one quarter.
Revere again found themselves in early foul trouble, as Clauto picked up his second early in the second quarter. Without their point guard, the Patriots were having a hard time scoring until the reserves gave the team a spark. Senior forward Ramadan Barry slashed to the basket for a nice layup. DeAngelis made a free throw and then set up his teammate, junior forward Vincent Nichols, with two beautiful back door layups.
Nichols, just returning from an ankle injury he suffered in the Melrose scrimmage, had another nice driving layup and Revere led in a low-scoring first half, 19-18.
The Patriots experienced more of the same after the intermission, as the defense from both teams was smothering. The Highlanders, led by point guard Jean Francois (25 points), began to start their run and took a 24-20 lead midway through the third quarter.
Leary used a timeout and made a few substitutions and Revere found their rhythm. Senior center Hamza Ghoul (four points, 11 rebounds) made two put-backs, Nichols (13 points, seven rebounds) drained a three-pointer and two free throws, and junior guard Domenic Boudreau (seven points) also knocked down a three-pointer, extending the Patriots’ lead to 34-26 at the close of the third frame.
Somerville would not go away that easily, as Francois again got going with a fast break layup and a three-pointer of his own, cutting the Revere lead to 34-31 with six minutes to go.
D’Ambrosio, after a quiet second and third quarters, sank a huge three-pointer, and then the highlight of the game for the Patriots happened after that.
Mourourane got a steal and tossed an outlet pass upcour to DeAngelis, who in turn threw a tip pass to Boudreau for the layup, a play that was right out of the fast-break playbook of the 1986 Boston Celtics.
Nichols would again drive to the basket for two points and then DeAngelis and Boudreau closed out the game successfully at the foul line to ice Revere’s first win of the season.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it,” said Leary. “It’s a road win in the GBL.
“Our young guys were huge tonight,” the coach continued. “Vincent (Nichols) and Sal (DeAngelis) combined for 21 off the bench and Domenic (Boudreau) made some big plays down the stretch. That’s a team win.
“James (Clauto) played great defense without fouling in the second half and Hamza (Ghoul) was a monster on the boards,” Leary added. “We had good balance and we just need to keep grinding.”
Revere was scheduled to host Lynn Classical last night (Tuesday) and then will meet Peabody at Winthrop High School next Tuesday at 2 p.m. in a holiday tournament. The Patriots will play again at Winthrop High on Thursday in either the championship or consolation game of the tourney.
Boys Track Team Runs Past Everett
The Revere High boys track team opened its season on a high note with a 65-20 victory over Everett in the season-opening dual meet of the 2022 season.
A number of Patriots grabbed first-place in their respective events: Ricardo Goncalves handily won the 50 yard hurdles with a time of 7.3; Mark Marchese took the 50 yard dash in 5.99; Sam ElAsri captured the 600 dash in 1:47; JV Cunha won the 1000 in 3:04.3; Victor Pelatere took first in the mile in 5:44.7; and Kenan Batic won the two-mile run in 12:11.9.
Tom Desir and Javan Close took first and second place in the high jump with the top leaps of 5’4″;
Second-place performances were turned in by: Javan Close in the hurdles in 9.0; Allen Hou in the 50 dash in 6.0; Keny Guerrero in the 300 dash in 43.7; Rami Ameziane in the mile in 5:51; and Mohamed Ouakani in the two-mile in 12:18.8.
Third-place points were scored by: Mudathir Hussein in the shot-put with a throw of 33′-9.25″; Felix Burgos in the 50 hurdles in 9.7; Mario Ramirez in the 300 dash in 44.5; Zaraius Bilimoria in the 600 in 1:57; and Marvin Aviles in the 1000 in 3:37.4.
Coach Sam Rose and his squad are scheduled to take on Somerville today (Wednesday). They will host Lynn Classical next Wednesday.
