Sports 12-19-2018

RhS sports Roundup

RHS boys basketball open season with 73-68 win over Peabody

The Revere High boys basketball team accomplished something Friday evening in front of a packed house at the Roland Merullo Field House in their season-opener that took them until Jan. 30 of last year — they earned their first win of the season.

The Tanners of Peabody came in confident after disposing of the Patriots twice last year by a combined 56 points, but as the visitors soon found out, this is a whole new season for the Revere High boys basketball program.

The Patriots started off slowly with some early-season jitters in front of the  big home crowd and fell behind early, 8-2.

However, senior center Nick Ciciulla made two consecutive baskets and senior co-captain guard Scotty Montefusco (11 points with three three-pointers) nailed a corner three to cut into the Tanner lead, leaving the Patriots trailing 14-13 at the first buzzer.

The teams exchanged baskets to start the second period, but the depth of Revere’s bench started to show, as junior guard Amara Bockarie’s (three steals, four assists) pressure defense, along with senior co-captain Sebastian Vanegas’s (seven points with two three-pointers) energy and leadership and sophomore forward Wilfredo Martinez ‘s (four points, two steals) contributions helped to push the Patriots out to a seven point advantage late in the first half.

Peabody pushed back, led by senior forward Mike Tansey (21 points, eight rebounds), who made some tough shots down the stretch, and Revere would go into halftime with a slight lead, 37-34.

The third quarter proved more of the same as both teams would go on scoring spurts to take the lead back-and-forth. Junior forward EJ Leone, who was asked to defend Peabody’s returning NEC All Star Chris Canela (who scored just two points on the night), also contributed on the offensive end, leading the Patriots with 19 points and grabbing five rebounds.

“One of the keys to the game was EJ’s and Amara’s ability to contain Canela,” said RHS head coach David Leary, who is in his third season at the helm of the Patriot boys program. “He averaged 25 points in the two games against us last year, but not this time.”

The Patriots expanded their margin to 10 points late in the third frame, but Peabody senior guard Joangel Lugo hit back-to-back three-pointers, including a buzzer-beater, to trim the Revere lead to 56-52 entering the final eight minutes.

The Patriots turned to their senior forward, Omar Bendjahene (18 points, five rebounds), who made some athletic moves to the basket to create some separation, powering Revere on a nine-point run for a 65-52 lead with 3:04 remaining in the contest.

However, Peabody refused to fold and responded with a run of their own that cut the Patriot lead to five. The momentum had definitely shifted to the visiting Tanners, but when the ball swung around to sophomore forward Dillan Day (eight points, eight rebounds), Dillan drained a huge trey from the corner to give Revere a little breathing room.

The Patriots made a stand on defense and Vanegas dropped in a three-pointer to push the Revere lead to 71-60. Peabody was forced to foul in the final minutes and poor free throw shooting by Revere allowed the Tanners to keep it close down the stretch.

Though the Tanners continued to attack on offense, ultimately the tenacious Patriots would not allow the contest to slip away and held on for a 73-68 victory.

“I am really proud of the toughness and togetherness we showed, but we have to keep our emotions in check,” said Leary. “We gave them seven points on technical foul shots and we made just five-for-16 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. You are not going to win many games doing things like that.

“That being said, we have a lot to improve on, but these kids work extremely hard and are committed to progress,” Leary added.

The Patriots were set to play at cross-town rival Chelsea Monday night and will host Somerville tomorrow (Thursday) at 7 p.m.

 

RHS swim team

wins opening meets

The Revere High swim team opened its season on a high note with victories over Medford and Lynn Classical this past week.

Last Tuesday the Patriots defeated Medford, 97-71. “That was a big meet for us,” said RHS head coach Chris Hill. “Last year Medford beat us by two points, so the kids were eager to have a rematch this season.”

Two days later the Patriots hosted Lynn Classical at the Garfield School pool and swam to a 92-79 victory.

“That meet was really tough because Classical has a dive team and we don’t, so they started out ahead 6-0,” noted Hill. “We were able to tie the score in the first event by taking first and third in the medley relay. After that we never trailed again.”

The medley relay quartet of Isabella Veraldi, Leila Cesic, Sonia Salazar, and Olivia Winsor qualified for the Sectionals Championship in that race with a time of 2:09.23. Another superb performance in the Classical meet was turned in by sophomore David Del Rio, who swam to victory in the 200 IM in a time of 2:12.60, a clocking that qualified David for the Sectionals.

Other winners in their events for the Patriots in the two meets were as follows:

Medford meet:

200 medley relay and 400 free relay: David Del Rio, Ashton Hoang, Reked Caushaj and Andrey Carvalhais;

200 IM and100 Back: David Del Rio;

100 Butterfly and 100 Free: Andrey Carvalhais; and

100 Breast: Ashton Hoang;

Lynn Classical:

200 Medley and 400 Free Relays: David Del Rio, Ashton Hoang, Reked Caushaj, and Andrey Carvalhais;

200 Free:  Patriots Ashton Hoang, Reked Caushaj, and Alexandra Burke swept the race;

200 IM and 100 Back: David Del Rio;

50 Free: William Arias, Leila Cesic, and Jeffery Martinez completed a Revere sweep;

100 Butterfly and 100 Breast: Andrey Carvalhais;

100 Free: Leila Cesic; and

200 Free Relay: William Arias, Badr Gliel, Miguel Leonarte, and Ahmed Khalid.

Hill also cited the fine efforts of Hassan Gliel and Sonia Salazar, both of whom swam the 500 free in both meets.

“Although Hassan and Sonia didn’t win, they scored a lot of points and showed a great willingness to swim such a difficult race,” said the coach.

The Patriots were set to be back in the water yesterday (Tuesday), hosting Swampscott at the Garfield pool. Their next meet is scheduled for after the holidays on Jan. 4 at Somerville.

 

Barbosa double-winner for RHS girls track team

The Revere High girls indoor track team raced to its second victory in as many starts of the young season with a 61-25 victory over Everett Wednesday evening at the Merullo Fieldhouse.

Luana Barbosa was a double-winner for the Lady Patriots for the second straight meet. Luana captured the high jump with a leap of 4’-6” and topped the field in the high hurdles in a time of 8.7 seconds.

“Luana had another great meet. She just missed jumping 4’-8” and ran a PR time in the hurdles of 8.7,” said RHS head coach Antonio LaBruna.

Five other Lady Patriots also captured first place in their individual events:

Kiana Napolitano – Shotput – 27’-6.5”

Thalia Ramos – 600M – 2:01.8

Ghizlane Guisser – 1000M – 3:55.1

Fatima Hartout – Mile – 6:36.2

Olivia Novoselsky – 2 Mile – 14:53

“Fatima won her first of many races in her track career in the mile,” LaBruna noted. “She has more foot speed than the average distance runner and is a smart runner, especially for a freshman.”

In addition, the 4 X 400 relay quartet of Nubya Filho, Thalia Ramos, Giulia Cincinnato, and Ghizlane Guesser ran to victory in a clocking of 4:45.

Second-place finishers for the Lady Patriots who contributed three points to the RHS side of the scoresheet were:

Jessica Vo – High Hurdles – 9.2

Giulia Cincinnato – 600M – 2:06.2

Yaritza Ganoza – 1000M – 4:06.2

Jenna Wells – Shotput – 26’2”

Taylor Sujko – High Jump – 4’6”

Adding single points with third-place performances were:

Kiana Napolitano – 50Y Dash – 6.7

Kathy Umanzor – 300M – 51.7

Nubya Filho – 600M – 2:08.2

Eliyah Godfrey – Mile – 7:22.4

Gabby Mogavero – 2 Mile – 17:28

Crystal Valente – Shotput – 24’4”

“Everett has some really fast sprinters, but they are a bit thin in the field and middle distance events and that’s where we separated ourselves and won the meet,” said LaBruna.

The Lady Patriots were scheduled to be back in action yesterday (Tuesday) at Marblehead.

“Our team is going to have to continue to work hard and improve because our schedule is going to start getting a lot tougher,” LaBruna added.

 

RHS boys track

team defeats Everett

The Revere High boys indoor track and field team handily defeated Northeastern Conference rival Everett, 65.5-20.5, last Wednesday at the RHS field house to earn their first win of the season.

Lucas Barbosa and Fraynel Amparo Del Rosario led the way for the Patriots, who  now stand at 1-1, scoring eight points each. Lucas won the high jump with a leap of 5’-8” and took second place in the 50 yard dash in 5.9 seconds.

Fraynel grabbed second in the high jump, clearing the bar at 5’-4”, and capturing the 50 yard hurdles in 7.3. He led a Revere sweep in the hurdles, with teammates Rayan Riazi (7.7) and Michael Adolphus (8.0) taking second and third spots.

Sam Gonzalez topped the field in the 600 dash in 1:38.2 to lead a Patriot sweep in that event. Teammate Eric Bua came across in second place in 1:39.2 and Augusto Goncalves placed third in 1:40.1.

Revere also took all nine points in the 1000 dash, led by Idriss Taoujni with a clocking of 3:18.5 and followed by teammates Eduardo Meza Ubeda in 3:23.9 and Cristian Acuna in 3:29.1

Christian Madrid forwarded the third Patriot sweep of the day in the two-mile with his time of 11:20. Fabio Tran was next in 11:26 and James Carpinelli was third in 11:53.

Revere went 1-2 in the mile, with Victor Pelatere coming across in 5:11.4, followed by teammate Jonathan Nushi in 5:15.2.

In the 300 dash, Matthew DeRocha took second spot in 42.0 and Antony Arias scored a point for his third-place effort in 42.9.

Arias also scored half a point for his tied-for-third place finish in the high jump with a leap of 5’-4”.

Alaa Atoui earned a point in the shot put with his toss of 36’-9”.

The Patriots were set to travel to Marblehead yesterday (Tuesday).

 

RHS hockey team

hosts Swampscott

The Revere High hockey team will open its 2019 Northeastern Conference South Division schedule when the Patriots host Swampscott this evening (Wednesday). Face-off at Cronin Rink is set for 6:30.

Coach Joe Ciccarello and his crew made their annual trek to Bourne this past weekend to participate in the Canalmen Classic Tourney. Revere ran into two superb teams, Dartmouth (the eventual winner of the tourney) and Bourne, and came out on the short end of both contests.

Senior Zach Rufo scored a goal in each game.

“We fell behind early in both games and could never quite recover,” said Ciccarello. “We have some young players who have not played at a varsity level and it will take time for them to gain experience. However, the tournament was a great bonding experience for the team and they acted like gentlemen for the entire weekend that we were at the hotel.”

After tonight’s contest, the Patriots will take part in a holiday tournament after Christmas Day.

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