The Revere High girls indoor track team put the finishing touch on its undefeated season with a commanding 63-32 victory over Greater Boston League (GBL) rival Somerville last Monday at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in Roxbury.
The victory completed a perfect, 7-0 dual-meet season for coach Raquel MacDonald-Ciambelli’s Lady Patriots and gave them an undisputed 2025 GBL championship for the second straight year.
Senior captain Liv Yuong celebrated Senior Night in appropriate fashion with three first- place finishes to score 15 points. Liv took the top spots in the high jump with a leap of 4’-10”, the long jump with a flight of 15’-3.75”, and the 55 meter hurdles with a clocking of 9.77 seconds, which edged out her closest Lady Highlander opponent by just 0.06 of a second.
“This was the closest competition Liv has had in the hurdles in the GBL this year and it was great to see her really compete,” said RHS MacDonald-Ciambelli. “She continues to shine at every meet, handling multiple events that often go off at the same time. This is great preparation for college, where I am confident she will compete as a multi.”
Junior Gemma Stamatopoulos once again made a major contribution to her team’s winning effort with two first-place finishes and one second-place finish for 13 points.
Gemma won the 600m dash in a time of 1:44.02 and the two-mile with a clocking of 14:26.45. Her second place came in the high jump, with her leap of 4’-8” bettered only by her teammate, Yuong.
“Gemma continues to run exceptional 600m races every week,” said MacDonald-Ciambelli. “She ran a 1:44 while holding back a bit for both the high jump and the two mile. I put Gemma in the two-mile to secure another first place for the team in what was supposed to be an extremely close meet. Her ability to also compete in multiple events really shows her overall fitness level. Gemma’s ‘can-do’ attitude is exactly what makes this team thrive in competitive meets.”
Senior captain Ashley Cabrera Rodriguez turned in an extremely impressive meet. Ashley won the 55m dash with a sprint of 8.15, took second in the long-jump, and ran the opening leg of the victorious 4 x 400 relay team to score 9.25 points for the evening.
“Ashley also is extremely versatile,” said MacDonald-Ciambelli. “She was able to split a 67 in the 400m relay, having not run anything above a 55m yet this year, which is incredible.”
Olivia Rupp scored six points with a pair of second-place finishes in the mile and the 1000m. “The mile and 1000m is an exceptionally hard double,” said MacDonald-Ciambelli. “But this is the second time Olivia has done it this season for the sake of the team, not to mention that she set a personal record (PR) in the mile by over five seconds and now has a best time of 5:45.13. Olivia is off the state qualifying time by less than two seconds.”
Rania Hamdani (46.11) and Danni Hope Randall (46.94) bothe ran a PR in the 300m dash, placing first and second. Rania then came back to split a 66 in the 400m relay.
Other Lady Patriots who set PRs included Dayana Ortega in the 55m hurdles (10.48) and Valeria Sepulveda in the 1000m (3:46.09), both of whom scored points for the Revere winning effort with third-place finishes.
Additional point-scorers for Revere were: Victoria Osias with a third-place in the 55m dash; Genevieve Zierten with a third in the mile; Francoise Kodjo with a second-place in the shot-put; and Jocelyn Lazo with a third in the shot.
In addition to Hamdani and Cabrera Rodriguez, the other two members of the winning 4 x 400 quartet were Randall and Zacharani Kalliavas. The foursome came across the line in 4:45.15, which was 8.05 seconds faster than their Lady Highlander counterparts.
“Overall, I can’t say enough about this team,” said MacDonald-Ciambelli. “Based on Somerville’s previous results from the season, we knew this would be our toughest meet yet. They are a stacked team and have an incredible coach. In my initial predictions, this meet was supposed to come down to the relay, so the captains and team leaders really went out of their way to get the team fired up.
“All of the girls were staying late at practice last week to prepare,” MacDonald-Ciambelli continued. “It was great to see them all rally around this common goal of being repeat undefeated champs. I can’t think of a more deserving group of girls.
“We have a lot of work to do this week in preparation for the GBL Championships this Monday,” the coach added.
The GBL Championship Meet was scheduled for this past Monday as the Journal was going to press. The results will be published in next week’s newspaper.
RHS boys track completes 7-0 season in the GBL
The Revere High boys indoor track and field completed a perfect 7-0 dual-meet season in the Greater Boston League (GBL) with a 52-43 triumph over Somerville last Monday evening at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury.
The triumph gives the Patriots the undisputed 2025 GBL championship.
The Highlanders have been the Patriots’ principal rival for GBL track supremacy in the past few years, but coach David Fleming’s squad left little doubt about who is the king of the hill for 2025.
Revere took first place in seven of the 10 individual events and second place in the three others to claim the victory.
Youness Chahid led the way for the Patriots, accomplishing an unheard-of “triple” in the 1000, 1-mile, and 2-mile events to pace the Patriots with 15 points. Chahid’s trifecta consisted of the 1000 meter run in a time of 2:51.85; the mile with a clocking of 4:54.70 (which was 14 seconds faster than his closest Highlander rival); and the two-mile with a time of 10:58.41, which was 38 seconds ahead of the second-place Somerville boy.
Patriot Jeremy X was another major contributor to the winning effort, tallying nine points in three events: a first-place effort in the 300m dash (in 37.14), a second in the 55m dash, and a third in the long jump.
Isaiah DeCrosta tallied eight points for the Revere cause with a first-place in the high jump with a leap of 5’-6” and a second in the 55m hurdles.
Edwin Alarcon captured his specialty, the 600m dash, with a winning time of 1:30.67.
Bryan Maia handily won the shot-put with a throw of 44’-1”, a distance that was almost six feet further than his closest Somerville competitor.
Joey Angiulo scored four points for the Pats with a second in the long jump and a third in the 300m. Oliver Escobar also tallied four points with a second in the high jump and a third in the 55m.
Contributing single points with their third-place efforts were Kenan Batic in the 600 and Silvio Neto in the shot-put,
Fleming and his crew were scheduled to compete in the GBL Championship Meet this past Monday at the Reggie.
RHS girls basketball defeats Classical, sets up showdown with Somerville
The Revere High girls basketball team earned one of its biggest victories of the season with a 43-28 triumph at Greater Boston League (GBL) rival Lynn Classical last Tuesday.
The victory raised the Lady Patriots’ record in the GBL to 8-3, setting the stage for the winner-take-all battle for the 2025 GBL title at Somerville (which also has three losses in the GBL) last night (Tuesday). Revere came out on the short end of a 48-37 decision in the teams’ first meeting two weeks ago, but was looking to turn the tables in the rematch.
In the big win over Classical, the Lady Patriots started slowly on offense and trailed 16-13 at the half. However, coach Ariana Rivera’s squad came out on a mission after the intermission, dominating Classical at both ends of the floor en route to outscoring the host Lady Rams by a wide margin, 30-8.
“We were able to turn on the gears and run on them in the second half. We had a huge night on the boards with 30 rebounds,” said Rivera. Shayna Smith led Revere in the rebounding department with nine boards, followed by Belma Velic and Allyson Olliviera with seven caroms each.
Nisrin Sekkat took charge of the Lady Patriot offense, dishing out six assists and scoring six points. Marwa Riad provided lock-down defense with seven rebounds and three steals.
“Collectively, our defensive performance may have been the best it’s been all season,” said Rivera. “Utilizing a few different defenses allowed us to throw Classical’s offense off. All around, we had great tempo. Our transition game was on point when we forced turnovers. It was probably our best game of the season besides our second match-up against Medford.”
In two victories last week, the Lady Patriots defeated GBL foe Chelsea, 53-24, and non-league opponent Salem, 64-29.
“We had a great team win against the Chelsea Red Devils,” said Rivera. “Freshmen Valentina Cruz and Becca Mercado added some offensive energy with 10 points combined. Freshman Allyson Olliviera led us to our victory with 14 points. Senior Lea Doucette added eight points and provided a huge defensive spark for us.”
In the Salem match, Shayna Smith dominated the boards with 10 rebounds and made six steals. Freshman Valentina Cruz also accounted for six steals.
“We had great team offense with nine girls adding to our winning score,” said Rivera. “We did well sharing the ball and running our offensive sets. Our solid defensive performance held Salem under 30 points.”
Rivera and her crew, who stand at 9-7 overall and need one more win to guarantee the .500 record needed to qualify for the post-season state tournament, will play at non-league rival Swampscott tomorrow (Thursday).
They will wrap up their 2025 regular season next week with two home matches vs. non-league opponent Boston United on Tuesday and GBL foe Everett on Wednesday. Both of those contests will tip off at 6:00.
RHS boys hoop aiming for tourney
The Revere High boys basketball team stands at 6-8 on the season after splitting its two contests last week. Last Tuesday, the Patriots claimed Round II of the Battle of Broadway with Greater Boston League archrival Chelsea with a runaway 74-38 triumph over the Red Devils at Merullo Fieldhouse. The contest never was in doubt as Revere built a 26-4 lead in the opening period and never let up on the gas, taking a 38-10 advantage into the intermission which they increased to 58-22 after three periods. The Patriots jumped out of the starting gate for a quick 9-0 lead as senior tri-captains Avi Lung (seven points, five assists) and Josh Mercado (14 points, three steals) each knocked down a three-pointer and Ethan Day made a fast break layup plus the foul. The Patriots’ defense was just as efficient as its offense, as their half court trap gave Chelsea a very hard time and the Patriots continued to build on their fast lead. Senior forward Erick Mayorga (seven points, five rebounds) made an elbow jump shot and freshman Charles Dobre flew in for a basket on the fast break giving Revere a 26-4 bulge at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was more of the same as the Patriots continued to put pressure on Chelsea defensively and had great ball movement on offense getting everyone involved. Senior forward Gio Alexandre (seven points, three rebounds) had two nice drives to the basket and also drained a three-pointer from the top. Junior forward Devin Berry had a nice put-back on an offensive rebound and Mercado and Day continued to make their share of shots, giving Revere a 38-10 advantage at the half. The Patriots came out after the intermission with the same focus and purpose that they deployed in the first half on both ends of the floor. Day (23 points, seven rebounds, four assists) continued to build on his stellar senior season, scoring, rebounding, and assisting on what seemed like every possession in the quarter. Mercado drained another corner three and Lung got a fast break layup plus the foul. Senior guard and fan favorite Peter Dacelien came in off the bench to an ovation from the crowd and wasted no time scoring a quick basket and the Patriots lead swelled to 58-22 to finish the third quarter. The fourth period was a rare delight for the Patriots. Most of their games go down to the wire, but in this one Revere was able to protect the lead and get all of their teammates involved. Sophomores Nico Cespedes and AD Ammime each made baskets, junior guard Isaiah Llanos made a wing three-pointer, junior guard Nick Rupp made two baskets in the lane, and Peter Dacelien made a corner three to again excite the crowd in Merullo. Revere took the victory, 74-38, and returned the favor with a sweep of the season series after losing both contests last year to the Red Devils. “It could not have gone any better for us,” said RHS head coach David Leary. “A big difference from how things went last Saturday (a 57-52 loss at Malden) was that we were intense, focused, and our seniors really carried us early on to take control. Everyone gets up for the Chelsea game year-in and year-out. Throw out the record books — it’s our biggest rivalry.” Thursday night the Patriots had a big challenge in front of them when they hosted Tewksbury, the #8-ranked team in D-2, from the Merrimack Valley Conference. The opposite of what happened in the Chelsea game two nights prior was the theme in the first quarter. Tewksbury jumped out to a rapid 17-4 lead just four minutes into the game on some pinpoint three-point shooting, hitting four in a row. Leary used a timeout to try to stop the momentum and switched to a man-to-man defense. The move seemed to calm things down and after a few baskets by Day (17 points) and a three-pointer from Mercado (five points, five rebounds), the Patriots cut the lead to 19-11 at the end of the first period. The Revere defense had settled down and the second quarter was more back-and-forth in the first few minutes with the teams exchanging baskets. Dobre sank a few free throws and had a nice finish at the rim, Day drained a corner three-pointer, and Mayorga (nine points, five rebounds) finished on a put-back. However,Tewksbury found their rhythm again, shooting the ball well towards the end of the half to take a 35-20 lead into the locker room. Revere came out after the intermission looking to cut into the deficit. Lung (12 points, three assists), after a quiet first half, knocked down a wing trey and then a pull-up jump shot. Mayorga sank a triple from the top and Alexandre (five points, four rebounds) made a driving hoop and, later in the quarter, a three-pointer. However, Tewksbury answered on several possessions with baskets of their own. Despite Revere’s improved play, the Patriots were only able to slice three points off the deficit, leaving them trailing 58-46 heading into the final quarter. The fourth period started off well for the Pats. Mayorga and Lung each had a basket to force a quick Tewksbury timeout. The visitors (11-3 on the season) regrouped and went on a quick 8-0 run to push the lead back to 16 points. Day made a couple of free throws and Lung got to the basket with a tough finish over two defenders, but Revere went cold after that and came up short, 72-52. “That’s a very good team we battled with,” said Leary. “There were definitely some positives. We know we can play with a team that talented and polished, but we just need to improve on doing it for 32 minutes and cannot fall behind the way we did. We bounced back after the slow start, which is a good sign, fighting through adversity, but on the other hand, we need to be ready at the jump every night. We just need to keep grinding” Leary and his crew, who need four wins in their final six games in order finish their regular season at .500 and punch their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney, were scheduled to meet GBL opponent Somerville this past Monday and will entertain non-league foe Chelmsford tomorrow (Thursday) evening for a 7:00 tip-off at Merullo. They will trek to Tewksbury next Tuesday and will host Brooke Charter School next Thursday (Feb. 13). They will wrap up their season at the General George Patton Tournament at Hamilton-Wenham on February 17 and 18, taking on the host Hamilton-Wenham Generals on Feb. 17.
