RHS Boys Top Plymouth South in State Tourney; Travel to Nashoba
The Revere High boys basketball team made the most of its long trek to Plymouth South High School this past Monday evening, returning home with a come-from-behind 55-50 upset victory over the Panthers in a preliminary round contest of the MIAA’s Division 2 state tourney.
The Patriots, who qualified for the post-season state tourney with a 10-10 record, were seeded 38th in Division 2, while Plymouth South (11-9) was the 27th seed.
Traliling 50-44 with less than 4:00 left on the clock, the Patriots, displaying the resilience and tenacity that catapulted them into the state tourney with a 5-1 run at the end of the season, scored the final 11 points of Monday night’s contest to claim the win.
Leading the way for Revere were senior captain Domenic Boudreau, who turned in a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds, and fellow senior captain Vincent Nichols, who added 13 points and two blocked shots. Sophomore guard Ethan Day also reached double figures with 10 points.
The Patriots now advance to the Round of 32 and will make the long journey to Bolton to take on sixth-seeded Nashoba Regional (18-2) tomorrow (Thursday) evening. The opening tip is set for 7:00.
The Patriots grabbed a 13-11 lead in the opening period and held a 33-28 advantage at the half. Boudreau hit for 13 points and Nicols struck for nine to pace Revere in the first 16 minutes of play.
However, the Panthers, spurred on by a loud home crowd, came out roaring after the intermission and took the lead, 43-41, after three periods.
“We really struggled to score with just eight points in the quarter,” noted Leary. Nichols scored four points and Day and Boudreau had two points apiece in the quarter.
Plymouth South maintained its momentum to start the final period. The Patriots were unable to find the hoop and trailed, 50-44, after Luke Ellis made a layup with 3:30 to go.
However, that would prove the starting point for a Revere comeback. Leary called a timeout and switched the Patriots to a pressure-defense — and the move provided the spark that ignited the Revere comeback.
Boudreau made one of two at the free throw line. After a steal by senior captain Alejandro Hincapie (6 points, 4 steals), the ball found its way to junior forward Andrew Leone (5 points, 5 rebounds) at the top of the key, from where Andrew calmly drained a three-pointer, cutting the Panther lead to 50-48 with under two minutes to go.
The Patriots continued to pressure the ball and Hincapie made another steal near half court and threw a lead pass to Day, who made a layup plus the foul. Ethan stepped to the line with the Plymouth South student body taunting him under the basket and calmly drained the FT to put Revere ahead, 51-50, with 57 seconds remaining.
The Panthers got a good look at an open shot but missed and Boudreau secured the rebound, passing to Hincapie, who was fouled with 21 seconds to. The senior captain, who has been given the nickname “Thefty Lefty†by his teammates in recognition of his ball-hawking prowess, sank both free throws despite being heckled by the Panthers’ crowd, to make it 53-50.
The Patriots kept the pressure on for one last possession and again it was Hincapie with the steal. Alejandro was fouled with 0:07 showing on the clock and hit two more from the charity stripe, completing an 11-0 Revere run and seal the 55-50 victory.
“We showed, as we have shown all year, that we have gritty kids with a ton of heart,” said Leary afterwards. “We just kept grinding and switching defenses to try to give us a spark and it finally happened in the last three minutes. We just did not want the season to end tonight!â€
RHS Boys Hoop Finishes Run to Playoffs With Win Over H-W in Final Game
The Revere boys basketball team barrelled into the MIAA post-season tournament with a 57-34 triumph over Hamilton-Wenham in the final game of the regular season last Tuesday at the Merullo Fieldhouse.
The victory capped a remarkable run by coach David Leary’s Patriots, who won five of their final six games to attain the .500 record that they needed to punch their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney.
The skein included victories over Greater Boston League rivals Malden and Everett, both of whom had defeated the Patriots in their first meetings this season and, in the case of Everett, marked the first triumph over a Crimson Tide boys hoop team in 20 years.
The Patriots began slowly to start the contest with the visiting Generals. Revere fell behind 10-3 through the first five minutes, with only a free throw by senior captain Alejandro Hincapie and a layup by senior captain Vinny Vu accounting for the Revere offense.
“I think we were playing a little tight with the tournament bid in mind,” said Leary.
However, the Patriots soon snapped to life. Sophomore guard Ethan Day hit a nice floater in the lane and then senior captain Domenic Boudreau (23 points, 13 rebounds) hit a sweet, pull-up jumper at the elbow and a corner three pointer to tie the score at 10-10 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was a struggle for both teams and there was very little offense to speak of until junior forwards Andrew Leone (6 points, 5 rebounds) and Luke Ellis both sank two free throws to give the Patriots their first lead, 16-15, with just three minutes remaining in the half.
Boudreau sank three of his free throws as well and Revere led 19-16 at halftime.
Revere emerged at the intermission with a proverbial mission in mind. The Patriots extended their full-court pressure and got some easy shots off steals. Senior captain Vincent Nichols (11 points, 4 rebounds) made two from the line; sank a deep three-pointer to beat the shot clock; and finished a fast-break layup.
Boudreau got to the hoop a few times and nailed a corner three-pointer, while Leone and Hincapie each finished around the basket over the defense, propelling the Patriots to a 40-30 advantage heading into the final quarter.
Revere maintained its momentum over the final eight minutes, with the Patriots pressuring Hamilton-Wenham’s guards. DeAngelis made a strong drive to the basket and Nichols, Day, Vu, and Leone all hit buckets.
When Ellis nailed a three from the top of the key, it was the proverbial dagger as the Revere lead ballooned to over 20 points with a few minutes left. Boudreau made two more free throws and a basket and Revere closed out the game with a 57-34 victory — achieving a 10-10 record and a tournament bid.
“We are just so proud these guys stuck together through it all, the injuries, sickness and so forth, to reach their goal of making the tournament,” said Leary. “Our record was 5-9 and we were down 16 points in the third quarter at Malden three weeks ago and came back and have won 5-of-6 games. All the credit goes to the players and our five seniors — what a ride!â€
