Middle School Girls’ Hoop Team Remain Undefeated

The Revere Middle School girls basketball team remained undefeated with a pair of wins this week, defeating a big and fast Pickering Middle School (Lynn) squad and then taking the measure of Marblehead.

In Wednesday’s encounter with Pickering, Coach Palermo’s Junior Lady Patriots clamped on their vaunted half-court pressure defense. The tactic overwhelmed Pickering and allowed Revere to race to a 24-2 advantage after one period.

Though Palermo pulled back his defense and substituted liberally in the second frame, Pickering still proved unable to penetrate Revere’s active 2-3 zone. By the intermission, the contest was all but over, with the scoreboard showing Revere with a commanding  40-4 lead.

For the fourth consecutive game, every Revere girl saw significant playing time, and for the third time,  every player on the roster scored (except Meghan Gotham who was home with the flu). Though Revere continued to play a loose zone defense, Pickering was unable to mount anything on offense and after three frames, the score stood at 46-6.

Palermo then played his five smallest girls (Jenna Wells, Gabriella Rotondo, Marina Robinson, Elizabeth Lake, and Emily DiGiulio) throughout the entire fourth quarter. The quintet outplayed their much bigger opponents, displaying great fundamental skills, crisp pinpoint passing, and deft ballhandling, to put the finishing touches on a 59-10 victory.

Valentina Pepic once again led the way with 12 points followed by Victoria Puopolo and Marina Robinson who logged in with seven each. Next was Emily DiGiulio with six, Vanessa Puopolo with five, and Jenna Wells, Samantha Woodman, Alina Giuliano, and Elizabeth Lake who all had four apiece. Tia Fichera, Gabby Rotondo, and Emily Wykes each contributed two points.

Two days later the Lady Patriots hosted Marblehead at the SBA gym in battle of unbeatens. Though Revere had been averaging 50 points per game through their first four contests, the visiting Lady Magicians were not intimidated in the least and proved to be more than a formidable opponent for the Revere quintet.

The well-coached Marblehead squad came out in a tight, man-to-man defense that neutralized the home team’s six-foot forwards, Pepic and Gotham, with a set of six-foot  twins of their own. Revere’s offense uncharacteristically stalled to the point that the Lady Patriots held a slim 6-5 edge after one period.

The defenses for both teams continued to dominate the action in the second frame, with the Lady Patriots moving out to only a slightly larger 13-9 halftime lead, by far the closest any opponent has been that deep in a game against Revere in three years.

The Lady Patriots’ offense continued to prove ineffective into the third period and Marblehead actually went ahead 15-14 midway through the quarter. However, Revere rebounded to take a 17-15 lead at the third buzzer.

Neither team scored a field goal in the final period, but Revere managed to connect on six free throws (to Marblehead’s three) to escape with a 23-17 win to improve to 5-0.

Valentina Pepic scored seven in the victory, followed by Emily DiGiulio and Victoria Puopolo who both had four. Emily Wykes was up next with three and Vanessa Puopolo and Meghan Gotham each had two. Marina Robinson rounded out the Revere scoring with a free throw.

The girls’ next encounter was set for yesterday (Tuesday) against perennially tough Marshall (Lynn) Middle School. The team was in for a rare treat by getting the chance to play on the varsity floor at Revere High School.

Middle School boys top Marblehead, 40-35

The Revere Middle School boys basketball team earned a well-deserved 40-35 victory over Marblehead at the SBA gym Friday afternoon.

From the moment that the 2-2 Marblehead boys and the 1-3 Pats squared off, Revere came out running on offense and clamped down with a suffocating defense en route to a 14-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The second period proved more of the same, as Brendan Hayes scored seven of his game-high 10 points to pace Revere to a 27-16 lead at the half in which nine Revere players got into the scoring column.

However, the Revere offense stalled after the intermission,  putting up just six points on the board in the third frame, to allow the visiting Magicians to get back into the game. By the midpoint of the fourth stanza, Marblehead had cut Revere’s  once seemingly-insurmountable lead to four with four minutes to go. However, the home team survived their opponent’s furious rush by hitting 6-of-9 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the victory.

Hayes led all scorers with 10. Anthony DeStefano was next with six followed by Vin DeGregorio with five. Rounding out the scoring were Gerald Charles, John DiGregorio, and Derek Reyenger with four points each; Eddie Sullivan with three; and Christian Palacios and Mass Joof with two apiece.

Two days earlier, the Middle School boys took on Pickering (Lynn) Middle School. From the outset, the contest was a fast, up-and-down affair in which both teams took turns making runs at the other in the style of boxers who are punching and counterpunching their opponent.

Lynn came out fast and furious and moved out to an early 18-2 advantage. However the Junior Patriots refused to fold and ran off the next 12 points to close the gap to 20-12 at the end of the first period.

Coach Miller’s crew maintained their momentum into the second frame and trimmed Pickering’s lead to 26-23 at the half. Seven Revere players got into the scoring column to pace a balanced Patriot scoring attack.

However, the momentum swung back to the Lynn squad after the intermission, as Pickering outscored Revere 19-11 in the third quarter to take a double digit lead of 45-34 into the fourth period.

Though the Patriots looked like they were finished, the gutsy crew mounted one last run, cutting deep into Pickering’s lead and getting as close as four (56-52) with 2:10 left in the game. Though Coach Miller’s crew ended up on the wrong end of a 59-52 decision, they never quit and kept playing hard right to the final buzzer.

The scoring was spread out among seven players with Gerald Charles leading the way with 17. Vin DiGregorio was next with 10 and John DiGregorio had a well-earned nine. The quartet of Eddie Sullivan, Brendan Hayes, Christian Palacios, and mighty mite Marcus Brunson-Perez chipped in with four points each to round out the score sheet.

Revere, which now stands at 2-3 on the season, was scheduled to take on Marshall Middle School of Lynn at Revere High School yesterday (Tuesday).

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