The Revere High girls basketball team tuned up for the state tournament with a 41-26 victory over Medford last week in the finale of the regular season. The Lady Patriots were set to embark on their Journey to the Tourney last night (Tuesday) at Westford Academy High School as the Journal was going to press.
After a tight first half in which Revere took a 24-18 lead into the locker room, the Lady Patriots clamped down on defense after the intermission, limiting Medford to just eight points, to pull away for the triumph.
“We made some adjustments on defense at the half and really worked at preventing
Medford from getting any good looks at the basket,†said RHS head coach Katelyn Leonard.
Caitlyn Caramello, who was coming off a 24 point outing the week before, led the Lady
Pats with a 20 point effort. Caitlyn also pulled down 10 rebounds for yet another strong double-double performance for the talented junior.
Revere’s final record of 11-9 gave the Lady Patriots the 13th seed in the 15 team Division 1 North bracket. Westford comes in as the No. 4 seed with a 17-3 mark. Ironically, the teams met earlier in the season in a pre-season scrimmage.
“We know a little bit about Westford and we have an idea of what we need to do against them,†said Leonard. “We played the entire season to get to this point and we are ready to get on the floor and play 32 all-out minutes of basketball.
“Westford has had a great season and is among the top seeds, but we’ll be prepared.,†added Leonard. “We have a number of girls with tournament experience from the past few years and they know what to expect. They know that if a team does not bring its best game, anything can happen in the tourney.â€
Westford, which plays in the Dual County Large conference, and Revere shared one common opponent, Pentucket, this season. The Lady Pats came out on the short end of a 50-27 decision, but Westford eked out a 60-58 win.
Patriot skaters fall just short in tourney bid
The late season surge toward a state tournament berth by the Revere High hockey team fell just short in the final game of the year against Matignon in the Newburyport Bank Classic Tournament last Wednesday, as the Patriots came out on the short end of a 3-1 decision.
Coming into the contest, Coach Jim Palumbo’s crew had reeled off four straight victories to improve to 7-8-4 on the season and needed a triumph in the finale in order to attain a .500 record and qualify for the tourney.
However, a ticket for a Journey to the Tourney was not in the cards for the Patriots. After a sluggish start allowed Matignon to grab a 1-0 lead in the first period, Revere came out stronger in the second frame and began to take control of the play. However, another lamplighter by Matignon left matters at 2-0 after two stanzas.
Despite the deficit, the Pats continued to play hard, as has been their trademark in their run for the tourney. Peter Marino, assisted by Pat Bartol, gave Revere some life with a goal 4:19 into the final period.
The Patriots then launched an all-out assault in the Matignon end (Revere would enjoy a shots on goal advantage of 32-25), but some post shots and missed breakaways resulted in matters remaining at 2-1 entering the final four minutes.
With the Pats needing a win and the two points for the tourney, Palumbo pulled netminder Jon Papasadora. However, Matignon put the game on ice with a marker a minute later for the 3-1 finale.
“It was a great run. We came together as a team and caught on fire,â€said Palumbo. “It really brought some excitement to our season.â€