The Revere High girls basketball team got its 2012-13 season off to a roaring start with a scintillating 44-40 victory over defending Northeastern Conference champion Lynn English Friday evening at the RHS fieldhouse.
The Lady Patriots took a 2-0 lead at the outset, but trailed thereafter until the decisive fourth quarter. The visiting Lady Bulldogs, who swept through their NC foes last season with a perfect 16-0 league record, took a 23-20 lead at the intermission. However, Revere had set the stage for a big second half by taking the ball strong to the basket which led to foul trouble for three of the English starters and resulted in the Lady Patriots going to the line for 25 free throws in the first half alone.
Still, the contest was a tight affair as the teams entered the final stanza, with English leading by two.
But at that point the Lady Patriots dug deep and shifted into overdrive, outscoring English 12-4 over the first part of the quarter to move out to a seven point advantage. The Lady Bulldogs, true to their defending championship stature, battled back with defensive pressure that forced some Revere turnovers to draw within a point, 40-39.
The Revere girls then stepped up their defense, limiting English to just one shot on its possessions down the stretch. English was forced to foul in the final minute, but cool and calm Lady Patriot Captain Gena Restiano sank four-of- four free throws in the clutch to keep the Lady Bulldogs at bay, thus foreclosing early any thoughts the English girls may have had of another undefeated season.
“What really won the game was our defensive intensity,†said RHS head coach Katelyn Leonard. “We forced English, which is known for its three point shooting, out of their comfort zone, forcing them to work their inside game. For the entire game, they ended up converting only one three pointer.
“It was a back and forth game and very exciting,†continued Leonard. “It was a great team effort. This was one of those games we had to gut out. We played through all the adversity of our turnovers and then had some key rebounding down the stretch to be able to get the job done.â€
Restiano led the RHS point parade with 19 points, including eight for 11 shooting from the charity stripe and one three- pointer. Captain Caitlyn Caramello added four points and was a tiger under the boards with 14 rebounds. Senior Amy Rotger reached double figures with 10 points and hit on four of six from the line.
Jen Fajardo and Tiphani Harris chipped in with four points apiece and Jacqui Noel added three points.
Leonard and her crew were set to play at Lynn Classical last night (Tuesday) and host Medford tonight. They will travel to Salem Friday and compete in the Pope John Christmas Tourney during the vacation break.
Boys track team defeats GloucesterÂ
The Revere High boys indoor track opened its season in fine fashion last week with a 46-40 win over Gloucester that was not quite as close as the final score might indicate. The Patriots captured first places in five events and placed two boys in the top three positions in seven of the nine individual competitions.
First place finishers for the Patriots were Tarik Maddrey with an outstanding leap of 6-3 in the high jump; Omar Morales with a toss of 45-3 in the shotput; Karim Sahila with a time of 7.1 seconds in the 50 yard hurdles; Joe Ritchie with a sprint of 5.6 seconds in the 50 yard dash; and Bobby Rose with a clocking of 39.5 in the 300 dash.
Second place efforts, which earned three points for their team, were turned in by Maddrey in the 50 yard hurdles in 7.5; Johnny Lopes in the 300 in 39.9; Zack Primo in the 600 in 1:32.2; Kristi Nushi in the mile in 4:51; and newcomer Wilmer Cruz, who turned in a superlative effort of 11:24 in the two mile race.
Contributing key single points to the Revere side of the scoresheet that clinched the victory were: Jeff Simbert with a shotput heave of 37-5 and a 50 yard dash of 6.0 seconds; Rose with a high jump of 5-8; Younes Hartout with a run of 1:32.2 in the 600; Abel Alcanter with a time of 3:00 in the 1000; and John DelloRusso with a two mile run of 12:06.
Coach Jack Mosko and his team will entertain Lynn English tomorrow (Thursday) evening at 6:00 in the RHS fieldhouse.
4 x 200 relay team sets new RHS boys record
The Revere High boys indoor track team competed in the Northeastern Conference Winter Festival Meet at the Reggie Lewis Center.
The big highlight for the Coach Jack Mosko’s squad was the new school record in the 4 x 200 relay that was set by the quartet of Joe Ritchie, Younes Hartout, Johnny Lopes, and Bobby Rose with a time of 1:34.84 to earn a third place ribbon at the meet.
Tarik Maddrey was the top individual finisher for Revere, taking in second place in the high jump with a leap of 6-2 among the field of 40 competitors.
Karim Sahila was the next best Patriot with a sixth place effort among 60 entries with a time of 8.35 in the 55 high hurdles.
Kristi Nushi, who ran a 4:44.66 in the mile, grabbed eighth place out of a large field of 117 competitors. Omar Morales also earned a ribbon with his eighth place finish (out of 90 rivals) with a toss of 45-5 in the shotput
Rawlings Toglon, who clocked a 2:52.68 in the 1000 meter run, placed in 17th spot in the field of 60 competitors and Johnny Lopes long jumped 19-2.5 for a 13th place effort out of 53 competitors.
Boys hoop team falls in season openerÂ
It often is said that you can tell which team won a basketball game by glancing at the turnover statistic even before looking at the final score.
Such was the case for the Revere High basketball team, which committed 32 of the former, and came out on the short end of an 88-58 decision to perennial Northeastern Conference powerhouse Lynn English Friday evening in the Patriots’ 2012-13 season opener.
Revere hung with English through the first period, trailing 24-17, but the Patriot offense withered under the Bulldogs’ full court defensive pressure in the second frame. Revere managed just two baskets (though still scoring a respectable 11 points) in the eight minute stanza, while the Bulldogs continued to run and gun, building a 51-28 lead at the half.
“We tried to dribble through their press and that’s what caused us to commit the turnovers,†said RHS head coach Rick Hayes. “When we attacked it with short passes, we did fine and got layups.â€
Mike Dreezen led the Pats in the scoring department with 10 points, followed by Tom Sor and Geo Gomez, who hit for nine points each. Mike Ciambelli struck for six points; Chris Hinojosa added five; Steve Selesnick, Dom Boyce, and Jason Seigal chipped in with four apiece; Dante Lauria sank a trey for three points; and Ravi Ryland and Sean Leonard each added a free throw.
A bright spot for the Pats was their free throw shooting, which was a fine 19 of 28 from the charity strip. In addition to Lauria, Sor, Dreezen, and Hinojosa also drained three pointers.
Hayes and his squad have a busy week on tap with three games in four days. They were set to entertain Lynn Classical last might (Tuesday), take the short trip to Chelsea tonight for a 7:00 tip off, and then host Salem Friday. The Pats will play in the Pope John Christmas Tournament in Everett next week, starting with a 7:00 contest against the host team next Wednesday.
Nelson, Adreani, Gurska take first places for track girlsÂ
Although the Revere High girls indoor track team came out on the short end of a 50-36 decision to Gloucester last week, four Lady Patriots came through with first place efforts.
Nikki Nelson won her race in the two mile event in a runaway, clocking a time of 14:40, which was 51 seconds ahead of her closest rival.
Raychel Adreani captured the 50 yard dash with a sprint of 6.8 seconds; Lindsay Gurska took the 50 yard hurdles in 8.4; and Danielle Fortuna won the 600 in 1:58.6.
A number of Lady Patriots came home in second place: Una Causevic in the high jump with a leap of 4-2; Janice DeStefano in the shotput with a toss of 30-8; Comfort Toglan with a sprint of 47.8 in the 300; and Maggie DiPlatzi with a run of 6:51 in the mile.
Adding single points for the Lady Patriot cause with third place finishes were: Noelle Galli with a shotput throw of 26-6; Brenda Rudecindo in the 50 yard hurdles in 8.6; Alanna Pasco in the 600 in 2:00.1; and Hayley Mangino in the 1000 with a time of 3:53.
The Lady Patriots will be back in action tomorrow evening (Thursday) against Lynn English in the RHS fieldhouse at 6:00.
Hockey team drops close 3-1 contestÂ
The Revere High hockey team played well in its season opener last Wednesday against Somerville, but was not quite able to come up with an early Christmas present for new head coach Joe Ciccarello in his first game, dropping a 3-1 decision.
“I told the team that I cannot tell them to win a game, but that I can tell them to try their hardest and do everything they can to prepare for a game,†said Cicarello afterwards. “It obviously would have been nice to have won, but I have no complaints about their effort or their desire to win.â€
After Somerville grabbed an early 1-0 lead, the Patriots bounced back to tie matters before the end of the first period on a power play goal by Marco Mazzarelli, who fired a quick shot from the slot after receiving a nice pass from behind the net by Cam Whalen.
The teams remained deadlocked at 1-1 by the end of the second horn in a hard-played and physical contest. The third period saw Somerville catch a break thanks to a mix up by the Patriots in their own end, allowing a Somerville skater to break in alone on RHS netminder Jon Papasadora (who enjoyed a stellar night with 32 saves) for what would prove to be the game winning goal.
With Revere pressing in the final minutes, Somerville was able to get another break-in for an insurance lamplighter for the 3-1 finale.
“We battled the whole way and gave it our all,†added Ciccarello. “We have a young team and we need to keep working hard to raise our level of play.â€
The Patriots host Marblehead tonight at Cronin with a 6:30 face off and then trek to Salem State Saturday afternoon for a 1:00 encounter with Salem.