RHS Sports Roundup

RHS Boys Basketball Wins State Tourney Opener

The Revere High boys basketball team made the long trek to Springfield last Tuesday to take on Springfield Science & Technology High School in a preliminary round contest of the MIAA Division 2 State Tournament.

The Patriots entered the tourney as the 45th seed in D-2 after qualifying for the tourney in the last game of the regular season with a rousing victory over Lynn English. The Cybercats were the 20th seed, which earned them the home court advantage in the match-up with the Patriots.

The almost two-hour bus ride was not the main concern for head coach David Leary and his staff, but it certainly was a topic of discussion with the team.

“We discussed it (the travel), but we also said it was not going to be an excuse,” said Leary. “We needed to play well to win a road tournament game and that was our focus.”

Indeed, the Patriots were laser-focused on the task at hand from the moment they stepped off the bus.

Revere was on fire from the opening tip behind the lights-out three-point shooting of senior forward Ramadan Barry (21 points, including 5-of-9 three-pointers) who drained a trio of treys in the opening period.

Senior tri-captain James Clauto (12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, four steals) had a couple of sweet drives to the basket and junior guard Domenic Boudreau hit a mid-range jump shot and then made a three-point play on a strong drive and foul in the lane to push the Revere lead to 22-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Revere defense was just as impressive, holding the home Cybercats to just seven points. The second quarter was more of the same early on, as Barry sank another corner three, junior forward Vincent Nichols slashed to the basket for a layup, and sophomore center Deivis Cruceta (14 points on 7-for-8 shooting) made four straight layups around the basket to extend the Patriots’ lead to 34-12 midway through the quarter.

Revere, playing an aggressive trap defense, ran into foul trouble and substitutions had to be made. Springfield Sci-Tech would take advantage, ending the first half on a huge 20-5 run, as the home team seemed poised to erase the early deficit, leaving matters at 37-32 in favor of Revere at the intermission.

The start of the third quarter was back and forth for the first few minutes, with both teams exchanging baskets and some defensive stops on each end. Revere would again rely on Barry to give them a spark, which Ramadan provided with another corner three and a floater on the baseline.

Senior tri-captain Jack D’Ambrosio (eight points, 6-of-8 free throws, four rebounds, four assists) had a nice put back and sank two free throws, Clauto and Cruceta had a few baskets inside as well, and the Patriots took a comfortable 58-45 lead heading into the final quarter.

The home Cybercats were not ready to give in yet however, and scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to cut into the Revere lead. D’Ambrosio made another pair of free throws to give Revere some breathing room, but another 5-0 run by Springfield put the score at 61-57 with just over three minutes left in the game.

Boudreau (16 points, seven rebounds) hit a shot clock-beating turnaround jump shot and then hit a nifty lefty layup over a Springfield defender to push Revere ahead, 65-57, with less than two minutes to go. The Patriots defense would only allow one more three-pointer and closed out the game by making their free throws to hold on for the victory, 73-60.

The victory was the first state tournament win for Leary and the first for the Revere boys basketball program dating back to 2001.

“We are so proud of this group,” Leary said afterwards. “They’ve battled and grinded all year long. They set goals for themselves last spring and it is a testament to them for putting in the hard work. We always say basketball only gives you back what you put into it. We had a long bus ride to celebrate.”

Patriots Fall to Scituate in State Tourney Contest

After their scintillating victory over Springfield Science and Tech Tuesday, the Revere High boys basketball team earned the right to advance to the round of 32 in the Division 2 state tourney with a contest at Scituate, the 13th seed in D-2.

The Patriots, came into the contest against their foes from the South Shore definitely playing their best basketball of the season, with victories over Lynn English in the regular-season finale and Springfield in the tourney and scoring over 70 points in both games.

In front of a sell-out crowd, the buzz in the building was palpable. The start of the game was promising for the Patriots, who were able to score on a set play off the opening jump ball with a Domenic Boudreau layup. However, Scituate came down the next play and made a three-pointer to take a lead that the Sailors never would relinquish.

Revere senior tri-captain and point guard James Clauto (10 points) came out hot with a few nice moves to the basket and a three-pointer of his own, but that was all that the Patriots could manage in the first quarter. Scituate, on the other hand, could not miss, making all three of their three-point attempts and six-of-seven field goals to take a commanding 21-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Sailors’ white-hot shooting continued in the second quarter, as they scored the first eight points to extend their lead to 29-11.

RHS head coach David Leary tried to stop the Scituate momentum, exhausting three timeouts during that stretch. Revere made a commitment to get the ball inside and try to claw their way back in. Senior tri-captain Jack D’Ambrosio (seven points, five rebounds, four assists) got to the free throw line a few times and senior center Hamza Ghoul had a nice post-up bucket, but unfortunately, Scituate just kept making shots, including 7-for-11 from three-point land before halftime, and the score ballooned to 46-17 at the break.

Revere needed to regroup and try to make one last push to save their season. The Patriots competed hard and finally began to find some offense when Barry drained a corner three-pointer and Boudreau sank two threes of his own and also made a nice foul line jumper.

Scituate cooled off offensively for a while, but then towards the end of the period, the Sailors hit a trio of treys to extend their lead to 63-31 heading into the final quarter.

The Patriots, who had played with class and pride all season long, did not give in and continued to play hard on both ends of the floor. The Revere crowd, filled with families and friends, alumni, and a fan bus full of RHS students, continued to cheer on their team the whole way through, including a roar when Leary decided to pull out his seniors with three minutes to go in the game, a very emotional moment for the team and the coaches.

The underclassmen for Revere got a chance to finish out the game and a few players took advantage. Sophomore center Deivis Cruceta had a nice tip-in basket, junior guard Chris Claudio drained a three-pointer, and freshmen forward Ethan Day had a nice steal at half court and drove in for a layup.

Though the final score was 80-41 in favor of Scituate, it did not detract from the magical season accomplished by the Patriots.

“Obviously, we did not want this season to end,” said Leary, “but as we told the fellas, only five teams in the state win their final game. We are so proud of these guys and what they were able to accomplish this year. We were allowed to play a full season unlike last year, we got to play and win a game at the Boston Garden, we qualified for the state tournament, we won a state tournament game, and then we got to play in front of a sell-out crowd — just incredible.

“These guys will always remember this and hopefully cherish it forever,” Leary added.

The Patriots finished the season with an 11-11 record and plan on having a program banquet in the beginning of April.

RHS Girls Fall to Tewksbury

The Revere High girls basketball team came out on the short end of a 53-34 decision at Tewksbury in a preliminary round contest of the MIAA Division 2 state tournament last Tuesday.

The Lady Patriots entered the tourney as the 42nd seed in D-2, while Tewksbury came in at #23.

Tewksbury led from the outset, scoring the first bucket of the contest.

Elaysia Lung sank a free throw for Revere and Bella Stamatopoulos did likewise after another Tewksbury hoop to leave matters at 4-2.

Another Tewksbury bucket was offset by a hoop from Lung to make it a 6-4 contest, but a trio of Revere turnovers led to an eight-point Tewksbury run to enlarge the lead to 14-4 with 3:30 left in the first period.

Haley Belloise made a nice drive and Skyla DeSimone sank a mid-range jumper to bring the Lady Patriots back within six at 14-8, but Tewksbury sank successive three-pointers to open up a 20-8 bulge.

Lung, who provided seven of Revere’s 10 points in the first quarter, closed out the period with a bucket to leave matters at 20-10 at the first buzzer.

RHS captain Carolina Bettero brought the deficit under double-digits with two free throws, 20-12, to open the second period, but that would be as close as Revere would get the rest of the way.

The Lady Patriots managed only two more points, on a drive by Belloise, for the rest of the period, allowing Tewksbury to move out to a commanding 38-16 at the intermission.

Although Tewksbury scored the first five points of the second half to make it 43-16, the Revere squad refused to quit.

Bettero, Revere’s leading scorer this season, then went on a tear. Carolina, who had picked up two early fouls, scored 11 successive points on a variety of drives and long-range shooting, to narrow the gap to 45-27 with a minute left in the third period.

However, Tewksbury scored the final bucket of the period and then sank a trey and another bucket to start the fourth period, making it 52-27 with five minutes to go.

The Lady Patriots continued to fight to the end, but the deficit proved too much to overcome.

The Revere girls ended the season with an overall record of 12-9 in which Chris Porrazzo’s squad finished in third place in the Greater Boston League with an 11-3 mark.

Tewksbury moved on to face 10th-seeded Canton in the round of 32 and dropped a 56-49 decision.

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