RHS Sports Roundup

Two GBL Victories for RHS Boys Basketball Team

The Revere High boys basketball team returned to action last week after the one-week hiatus that had been imposed by the Greater Boston League (GBL) because of the surge in cases of COVID-19 attributable to the widespread Omicron variant in the GBL schools and communities.

The Patriots returned to practice on Sunday and then on Tuesday traveled down Broadway to take on their archrivals, the Red Devils of Chelsea High School.

The pause in the season did not seem to have a negative effect on Revere, as the Patriots came out flying offensively and pressing defensively.

Senior captain James Clauto (15 points, eight rebounds, four assists) got Revere going, scoring the Patriots’ first six points on some nice, athletic drives to the basket. Junior guard Domenic Boudreau (10 points) also joined the Revere scoring barrage, knocking down two three-pointers.

Revere was in complete control of the first quarter, and when senior forward Ramadan Barry (seven points) sank a trey and senior center Hamza Ghoul (four points, five rebounds) had a nice put-back on an offensive rebound, Revere extended its lead to 23-8 to close the period.

The second quarter was much more evenly-played, as both teams exchanged early baskets. Revere junior swingman Vincent Nichols (five points) drained a corner three-point shot, Barry made another three-pointer from the wing, and Boudreau hit a nice pull-up jump shot in the lane to give Revere a 20-point lead, 32-12, midway through the period.

However, Chelsea called a timeout and would regroup. The Red Devils began to find their offense and implemented a full-court press that rattled the Patriots. Revere lost the momentum and Chelsea took advantage, cutting the lead to 32-19 with just under two minutes left in the half.

Revere was able to push back however, when senior reserve center Kenny Arango had a nice fast break layup from a Clauto pass and made a free throw. The Patriots settled down and took a 39-22 lead into the locker room at the intermission.

The third quarter was also played fairly evenly. Revere senior captain Ihssan Mourouane (six points) made a nice driving layup plus the foul and fellow senior captain Jack D’Ambrosio (six rebounds, four assists, two steals) had a great blocked shot to get the Revere bench fired up.

The home Red Devils were not going to go away that easily and they began to find their range from three-point land. They also extended their pressure defense, causing Revere to play too quickly, which led to turnovers.

The Patriots’ lead had shrunk to 43-32 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter until Revere junior guard Sal DeAngelis (four points on 4-for-4 shooting from the free throw line) made two free throws and Clauto also sank a pair from the charity stripe to give the Patriots a little more breathing room heading into the fourth quarter with a 51-38 advantage.

The final quarter did not go well for Revere. The Patriots’ offense went cold, and other than a layup from Nichols, it was all Chelsea for the first six minutes of the period. The Chelsea pressure defense was creating turnover after turnover and with under two minutes to play, the Revere lead had narrowed to a one-possession game at 53-50.

Mourouane scored a clutch basket for Revere and after a few good defensive stops by the Patriots’ defense, Clauto stepped up to sink a free throw to give Revere the close 56-52 victory.

“We held on, but it was not pretty,” said RHS head coach David Leary. “We just have to keep learning from our mistakes and learn how to close-out games late.

“The kids should be proud,” Leary added. “It’s never easy to win on the road in Chelsea. We just need to keep grinding.”

The boys finally got to play their first home game of the season last Thursday when they hosted another GBL foe, the Golden Tornadoes of Malden High School.

The first quarter can only be described as a fast-paced shootout with the two teams going back-and-forth, scoring on seemingly every possession. Revere’s senior captain trio stepped up, with James Clauto (nine points) draining a three-pointer; Jack D’Ambrosio (five points, nine rebounds, two steals) making two hard drives to the basket; and Ihssan Mourouane (13 points) scoring three buckets with strong inside moves.

The captains were not the only seniors to do the scoring, as senior center Hamza Ghoul (nine points, 10 rebounds) made two nice, post-up baskets and senior forward Ramadan Barry (eight points) hit all four of his free throws in the quarter.

Junior guard Domenic Boudreau (seven points) had two nice floaters in the lane and sank 3-of-3 free throws for Revere, but Malden maintained its scoring pace and the game was tied at 22-22 after one quarter.

The second period was more of a normal high school basketball game pace as both teams cooled off on offense. The Patriots got a nice layup from lefty backup junior point guard Alejandro Hincapie. D’Ambrosio, Clauto, and Ghoul each made a basket and junior guard Sal DeAngelis (four points) sank two free throws. Junior forward Vincent Nichols (seven points) had a nice driving layup through the middle of the Malden defense and Revere jumped ahead to a 37-32 lead at halftime.

Revere switched to a man-to-man defense after the intermission and the adjustment by Leary and his staff paid-off, as the Patriots held Malden to just seven points in the third quarter. The Patriots, as was the case the whole game, got balanced scoring in the quarter as Mourouane, Clauto, and Nichols all had two baskets while Barry, D’Ambrosio, and DeAngelis each chipped-in with buckets.

The combination of good defense and balanced scoring allowed the Revere lead to swell to 55-39 after three quarters. The trend of Revere giving up big leads in the fourth quarter however, would come to fruition again.

Malden began to find its touch from the three-point arc and the Patriots began to lose focus and play loosely with the ball. Malden went on a big run and cut the deficit to 57-50 with 3:43 remaining in the game.

The Patriots’ woes at the charity stripe also contributed to the Malden comeback, as Revere shot just 4-for-13 down the stretch. Fortunately for the Patriots, their defense was solid enough in the last few minutes of the game and allowed them to hold on for a 65-59 victory.

“It was nice to finally play at home, but we just cannot afford to be giving up these leads late in games,” said Leary. “We work too hard to get the leads to just give them away. Malden is a well-coached team and they finally had their entire team back. We told our guys that they were going to be way better than their record says. We just have to keep learning and keep grinding.”

Revere will host the GBL-leading Crimson Tide of Everett this evening (Wednesday). The opening tip is set for  7 p.m. at the Merullo Fieldhouse. Leary and his crew will play at Lynn Classical next Tuesday.

RHS Girls Track Ties With Medford

The Revere High girls indoor track and field team battled Greater Boston League rival Medford to a 40-40 deadlock last Wednesday.

Liv Yuong was the top scorer for coach Racquel MacDonald’s squad, placing 10 points onto the Revere side of the scoresheet with a pair of first-place finishes in the 55 meter hurdles and the high jump.

Other first-place finishers for Revere were Natalia Lopez in the shot-put with a personal record (PR) throw of 29’-9.75” and Jessie Jones in the 300 meter dash with a time of 52.4.

Second-place finishes for the Lady Patriots were turned in by Alannah Burke in the 600 meter dash, Melisa Devedzic in the shot-put, Jerelys Canales in the 55 meter dash, Yara Belguendouz in the 55 meter hurdles, and Rocio Gonzalez in the one-mile.

Adding crucial single points in a meet where every point counted with third-place performances were Raquel Class in the 55 meter dash, Lynberlee Leng in the 55 meter hurdles, Yasmin Riazi in the 600 meter dash, Rocio Gonzalez in the shot-put, and Fatima Hartout in the mile.

Additionally, the girls track team sent a contingent to compete at the Northeast Invitational at the Reggie Lewis Center this weekend.

Liv Yuong turned in an impressive eighth-place finish and recorded a new PR in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 10.49. Other PRs included Alannah Burke in the 600 meter with a clocking of 1:56.39, Yasmin Riazi in the 600 with a time of 2:02.87, and Rocio Gonzalez in the 1000 in 3:50.35.

MacDonald and her crew have a busy week ahead with three meets in nine days. They were scheduled to take on Chelsea yesterday (Tuesday), Lynn English on Friday, and Malden next Wednesday.

RHS Boys Track Outruns Mustangs

An undermanned Revere High boys track team turned in a gritty performance to earn a 49-35 victory over the Medford Mustangs last week.

The Patriots received a number of first-place performances. Ricardo Goncalves sped to victory in the 55 meter hurdles in a time of 8.4 seconds, which represented a wide margin of 1.6 seconds over his nearest Medford rival. Ricardo also tied for second place with three other competitors in the high jump with a leap of 5’-0”.

Mark Marchese outsprinted the field in the 55 meter event with a dash of 7.0 seconds and added three points for Revere in the shot-put with a toss of 30’-8”.

Victor Pelatere handily captured the 1000 meter event with a clocking of 3:26.3.

JV Cunha won the mile with a time of 6:03.3 and also was among those who tied for second in the high jump.

Mohamed Ouakani won a hard-fought two-mile race in 12:48.9, which was five seconds faster than his closest Mustang rival.

Tom Desir scored points for the Revere side of the scoresheet in two events with a second-place performance in the 600 dash in 1:43.0 and was among the quartet who tied for second in the high jump.

Other second-place finishers for the Patriots were: Kenneth Le in the 1000 in 3:47.6; Keny Guerrero in the 300 dash in 42.4; and Allen Hou in the 55 dash in 7.2.

Adrian Grullon added a point for Revere with a third-place effort in the 300 dash in 48.5.

The Patriots also handily won the 4 x 400 relay with a clocking of 4:11.8, compared to the Mustangs’ time of 4:26.7.

“This meet was nerve-wracking for us, as we were down a significant number of our team due to COVID, illness, and other issues,” said RHS head coach Sam Ros. “We showed up with only 12 athletes and kids had to compete in events they weren’t used to. Somehow we were able to pull it out and win just before the relay.”

Ros and a contingent of his squad also competed at the Reggie Lewis Center this weekend at the Northeast Invitational.

A notable highlight from the meet was the performance of sophomore JV Cunha, who ran a personal record (PR) time of 1:25.35 in the 600 meters. That clocking was fast enough to qualify JV for the Indoor Track Nationals Emerging Elites competition in New York City in March.