RHS Sports Roundup

RHS Boys Basketball Tops Chelsea, 69-57

The Revere High boys basketball team evened its record at 2-2 with its second win in a row, a scintillating 69-57 victory over archrival Chelsea before a large, boisterous, and appreciative crowd at the RHS field house last week.

“Last Monday was a fantastic day for Revere High basketball, both on and off the court,” said RHS head coach David Leary. “The girls and boys basketball programs hosted Chelsea and held their annual Autism Awareness Day to help raise money and awareness through the Little Ricky Foundation. All five Revere teams (JV and varsity girls and the freshmen, JV, and varsity boys teams) swept the board with victories.”

Leary’s RHS boys varsity crew, which was coming off a big road win at Wakefield two days previously, were poised to build off that performance and started off fast against the visiting Red Devils. 

Junior forward Dillan Day (12 points, five rebounds, and two steals) opened up the game by sinking a three-pointer. Senior captain and big man, Scott Toglan (seven points, six rebounds), got the home Patriots going with his rebounding and toughness around the basket. 

Fellow senior captains Amara Bockarie and Robert Raduazzo (11 points, six rebounds, six steals) then drained back-to-back three-pointers to extend the lead early for Revere.

Sophomore forward John Capozzi (nine points, 11 rebounds) came in off the bench and scored four quick points to end the quarter with the Patriots ahead, 19-15. 

The game’s pace slowed down a bit in the early part of the second quarter, as both teams settled down in front of a packed house. Chelsea tied things up at 21-21, but again Toglan and Raduazzo were not going to let their last career home game against their biggest rival go in the wrong direction, as they combined for 11 points in the frame. 

Senior guard Rashawn Peete (five points) made two free throws, but Chelsea would answer with a three-pointer at the buzzer to close the gap, with Revere maintaining a 35-29 advantage at halftime.

Leary made some defensive adjustments in the locker room during the intermission and it really slowed down the Red Devils, as the visitors were held to just 10 points in the quarter.

Junior forward Calvin Boudreau (seven points, eight rebounds, three assists) and junior Guard Crisrael Lithgow (six points, two steals) had two nice steals and layups to push Revere ahead. 

The Patriots also got a spark when senior guard Derek Avery (nine points) swished a trey from the corner off a set play and had a nice fast-break layup to give Revere a 48-39 lead heading into the final quarter.

But Chelsea, a well-coached and hard-nosed opponent, did not go away, as Red Devil sophomore guard Josue Bonitto (24 points, six three-pointers) hit for a trio of treys to start the quarter, slicing the Revere lead to 51-48 with 4:12 remaining. 

The sequence after a Revere timeout was wild, as Raduazzo assisted on four straight baskets, including an acrobatic, over-the-head layup by Avery, a pair of three-pointers by Day and Capozzi, and a Boudreau layup. The Red Devils, despite their own hot, three-point shooting, could only get so close against the balanced Revere attack and the Patriots held on to win, 69-57.

“We talk about ball movement and setting up your teammates for a better shot all the time and we did that,” said Leary. “We had nine players score in the game and had 17 assists on 24 made shots. That is as balanced as you are going to get. 

“I thought Robert (Raduazzo) really fueled that, especially after getting off to a hot start scoring. Later in the game he was finding his teammates — we all were,” Leary added.

Leary and his crew took on Somerville this past Monday and will host Peabody this evening (Wednesday) at 7 p.m.. They will entertain Medford on Friday at 6 p.m. and then will make the short trek to Malden next Tuesday.

Swimmers Do Well in Meet With Malden

Although the Revere High swim team came up short by a score of 95-75 in its meet this past Friday against Malden, a number of Patriot swimmers turned in fine efforts against the Golden Tornadoes.

The Revere 200 medley relay team of David Del Rio, Ashton Hoang, Reked Caushaj, and Ahmed Khalid won the event and qualified for Sectionals.

The same quartet also won the 200 free relay, while the foursome of teammates Mohammed Benzerdjeb, Sonia Salazar, Isabella Veraldi, and Jeffery Martinez took third place in that event.

In the individual races, Del Rio won the 100 backstroke and took second in the 200 IM.  Veraldi and Benzerdjeb then hopped out of the pool after their 200 free relay and swam the next event, the 100 back, and took third and fourth respectively.  

Salazar also came through with an even more impressive overall performance. After she had already competed in the 200 IM, she then took third in the grueling 500 free, then joined the relay team and swam one of her fastest times of the season.

Martinez also swam back-to back races, placing third in the 100 fly and then fifth in the 100 free. 

Khalid made a fine individual contribution to the RHS scoresheet, taking third in both the 50 and 100 free.

Coach Chris Hill and his squad were set to take on East Boston yesterday (Tuesday) and will meet Somerville today (Wednesday). 

RHS Boys Frosh/Soph do Well at State Meet

A contingent of Revere freshmen and sophomore members of the RHS boys indoor track & field team competed in this past weekend’s Large Schools State Freshmen/Sophomore Championship Meet that was held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury.

The results for the Patriot competitors were as follows:

300 meters: Mark Marchese 39.40, Augusto Goncalves 40.66

600 meters: Chris Cassidy 1:39.06, Edgar Gonzalez 1:39.11

1000 meters: Vic Pelatere 2:48.86, Sami El Asri 2:57.13

55 meter hurdles: Ricardo Goncalves 8.48

4 x 200 meter relay: Ricardo Goncalves, Augusto Goncalves, Sami El Asri, and Mark Marchese 1:40.31

“Ricardo (Goncalves) had an excellent day, winning two medals,” said RHS boys head coach Sam Ros. “He finished third overall in the hurdles and seventh as part of the 4×200 team.

“Ricardo has been dealing with, and continues to deal with, a hamstring/groin injury since the football season, so I wasn’t sure how he would perform this season,” Ros added. “He has been taking care of his injuries, but is still bothered by it. It shows how tough and dedicated he is to be able to perform at a high level and have a great day that he had.

“In the 1,000, Victor (Pelatere) continues to improve steadily,” said Ros. “He comes in after having a great freshman year last year, as well as a lot of pressure after having a very successful middle school cross country career in which he was the conference champion as an eighth grader. 

“In the 1,000 this weekend, he was boxed in most of the race, but freed himself enough to push hard the final lap to close out a seventh place finish, earning him a medal,” said Ros.

“Sami (El-Asri), like Vic, ran middle school cross country for me,” Ros said. “As an eighth grader, he got out-kicked at the finish line and just missed-out as being the NEC middle school champ. This was Sami’s first time in the 1,000 and it showed. He wasn’t sure during the race of a good strategy and ended up going back and forth a lot. Despite that, his time is very respectable and quick for a freshman.

“In the 300, Mark (Marchese) continues to learn how to race it properly, but is still adjusting. He wastes a lot of effort weaving in and out of the other runners,” noted Ros. “Despite that, he is running fast times and will only get faster.

“Augusto (Goncalves) was entering the season with a lot of high hopes. As a freshmen last year, he was the NEC freshmen sophomore champion,” said Ros. “Unfortunately, he was been dealing with lingering injuries from the football season and has not started off well. Each week he shows improvements and his times are coming down little by little. He is still about two seconds off his 300 personal record (PR) from last year, but I’m sure he’ll exceed them by the end of the season.

“Chris (Cassidy) and Edgar (Gonzalez) are novices to our mid-distance crew,” Ros added. “They were practicing with our sprinters on the shorter events, but based on what I’ve seen in practice and the limited amount of meets so far this year, I believe they are better at the slightly longer events. They both exceeded my expectations in this 600. This was Edgar’s second time in the 600 and he PR’ed by over four seconds. This was Chris’ first time running the 600 and he is already one of our top runners in this event.”

Ros and his full Patriot squad were set to compete against Somerville earlier this week.

RHS Girls do Well at State Frosh/Soph Meet

A number of the freshmen and sophomore members of the Revere High girls track team completed in the Freshmen/Sophomore State Championship Meet that was held Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

“This is a meet that the girls must qualify for and we had seven girls that met the qualifying standard,” said RHS head coach Antonio LaBruna. “It was a really good day for the girls; most of them PR’d in their individual events.

“Jerelys Canales, a sophomore, had a tremendous meet,” LaBruna said. “She works extremely hard in practice and has improved her time in the 55 meter dash in every meet this season. She ran an 8.23 after running an 8.35 just a week earlier.

“Jerelys also broke the school record for the girls indoor long jump,” LaBruna added. “She jumped 14’-7.5”, surpassing her teammate, Luana Barbosa, who jumped 14’-7” just a week previously. I have a feeling that the long jump record will be broken again this season and it likely will take a 15-foot jump to hold up.

“Carolina Bettero ended up finishing eighth in the 55-meter hurdles to earn a spot on the podium, as the top eight receive medals,” LaBruna noted. “She ran a 9.80 in the preliminary, which had her in fifth place going into finals, but she dropped a couple of spots after running a 10.0 in the finals. This was her first race of the season, so her time will certainly be faster in the coming weeks. 

“Arianna Keohane threw a PR of 23’-10” in the shot-put,” continued LaBruna. “She struggled in our first meet of the season, so it had to feel good for her to get off a good throw yesterday. 

“Lorina Tran tied her PR in the high jump, clearing 4’-8”,” LaBruna said. “Lorina had two great attempts at 4’-10”, which would qualify her for D-1 States, so that is something we are striving for in the coming weeks. Once she adds a bit more speed to her approach to go along with some more work on her form, I think that she’ll get there.”

LaBruna and his full crew were set to take on Somerville earlier this week.

RHS Hockey Team Hosts Eastie Tonight

The Revere High hockey team will look to get on the winning track when the Patriots host East Boston this evening (Wednesday) at Cronin Rink. The opening face-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

The Patriots are coming off a 5-3 loss to the Northeast Regional Golden Knights this past Saturday. 

Northeast jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the opening period, with Patriot Kevin Ivimey lighting the lamp for the lone Revere score.

The Golden Knights added another goal in the second period before Revere scored twice late in the third period on goals by Alexio Trichilio and Corey Rufo.

“Once again we started flat and it cost us,” said RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello. “Our practices have been great and the team gives 100 percent when they’re on the ice, so it’s just something that we’re going to have to work on,” Ciccarello added.

After tonight’s game with Eastie, the Patriots will play at Hamilton-Wenham this Saturday and then will entertain Norton next Wednesday at Cronin at 6:30 p.m.