RHS boys basketball wins pair, now 4-3
After dropping a 56-42 decision to Greater Boston League rival Somerville last Monday, the Revere High boys basketball team rebounded in fine fashion, earning a pair of victories over Peabody and Malden.
In last Wednesday night’s matchup with the non-league opponent Peabody Tanners, the Patriots got off to a slow start, falling behind 10-0 in the opening three minutes.
However, the Revere offense swung into high gear, thanks to a pair of three-pointers by  senior captain Robert Raduazzo (who hit for 12 points on four three-pointers for the night) and junior guard Crisrael Lithgow (16 points, three steals).
However, the Tanners maintained their own hot shooting pace, responding with a quartet of treys before the period ended to take a 20-10 advantage at the first buzzer.
Revere switched out of its zone defense and went man-to-man to start the second period, a move that made an immediate impact on the flow of the game.
The Patriots limited Peabody to just 10 points in the quarter, and with Patriot seniors Derek Avery (six points) and Bobby Kjersgard both draining three-pointers consecutively off the bench, Revere sliced the Tanner lead to 30-26 at the half.
The Patriot defense continued to play stoutly after the intermission, and behind a pair of treys by Raduazzo and another by Avery, together with two tough hoops around the basket by junior forward Dillan Day (eight points, seven rebounds), the home team finally took the lead, 36-30, midway through the third quarter. Sophomore forward John Capozzi (a nice double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds) came in and controlled the boards on both ends, making a layup and draining a three-pointer, to boost the Patriots into a 48-42 lead heading into the final quarter.Â
The pesky Tanners however, would not go away, despite Revere’s hot shooting and tough defense, and cut the lead to 52-49 with 3:17 remaining.
After RHS head coach David Leary called a propitious timeout, senior guard Rashawn Peete (five points) hit a clutch three-pointer, Day made another tough layup in the lane, and Capozzi and Lithgow went 4-for-4 at the free throw line down the stretch to help Revere hold on for the win, 60-55.
“We have to stop getting off to these slow starts and playing from behind,†noted Leary. “Luckily, our man-to-man defense improved tonight and our three-point shooting (Revere was 12-for-20 from three-point land) was fantastic.â€
Two nights later Leary and his crew Friday hosted the GBL rival Medford Mustangs. This time the Patriots came out on fire behind Lithgow (14 points, four steals, three assists), who had two steals and layups and a three-pointer in the first few minutes.Â
When Raduazzo (nine points, two steals) sank a three-pointer to give Revere a 15-5 lead, Medford was forced to take an early timeout. Following the timeout, the Patriots maintained the pressure. After a three-pointer by Day (16 points, six rebounds, three assists), Revere led, 18-5.Â
The well-coached Medford team made an adjustment on offense and closed the quarter on a spurt of their own to leave matters at 21-15 at the first buzzer.
However, the Patriots resumed control of the contest to start the second period, led by senior captain and point guard Amara Bockarie (six assists, two steals, one  turnover). Revere had excellent ball movement on offense and continued its hot shooting, thanks to the Pats’ unselfish play.
Junior forward Calvin Boudreau (10 points) and Capozzi (seven points, seven rebounds) came in off the bench to give the team even more offense and helped push the Revere halftime lead to 38-25.Â
The offense may have been the story in the first half, but the Patriots’ defense impressed even more after the intermission, holding Medford to just three points in the third period. Even more impressively, Revere held Medford’s two main scorers, Alex Valera (17 ppg) to zero points and Riley McBrine (13.5 ppg) to just six points, with neither player scoring in the second half.Â
Revere senior guard Michael Hayes played solid defense at the top of the zone as the Patriots enlarged their advantage to a commanding 49-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Avery, Kjersgard, and Boudreau all knocked down three-pointers in the final quarter. Although the young Medford substitutions made a valiant effort in the final few minutes, Revere took the game for their first GBL victory of the season, 64-54.
“We only had one day to prepare for Medford, so we really stressed two key areas,†said Leary. “We talked about ball movement on offense and holding down their two best offensive weapons. The kids executed very well and played as one — we had 17 assists on 21 made baskets.â€
The lone setback of the week for the Patriots took place last Monday when traveled to Bunker Hill Community College to take on the Somerville Highlanders (who do not have a home gym this season because of renovations to their school).
The Patriots were hoping to get their first GBL win of the season, but the Highlanders came out on fire, scoring the first 13 points of the game to put the Patriots behind the proverbial eight-ball, 13-0.
Revere called a timeout to regroup and to slow Somerville’s momentum. Day (six points, seven rebounds) and senior captain Scott Toglan (four points, five rebounds) got the offense going and seemed to help weather the storm.
With the Revere defense also stepping up its intensity, the Patriots trimmed the Somerville lead to seven points. However, Highlander guard Kevin Rooney made a three-pointer at the buzzer for a first quarter Somerville lead, 16-6.Â
The second quarter was more of the same for Revere as the defense played well, but the offense struggled to score. Though the Patriots held Somerville to just six points in the quarter, they still trailed, 22-17, at halftime.
Somerville came out fast in the third quarter and extended their lead again to as many as 18 points, but Lithgow (11 points, four rebounds, four steals) and Boudreau (14 points) finally got the Revere offense to wake up and the Patriots closed the gap to 42-28 at the end of the third quarter.Â
The fourth period started out promisingly for Revere, as Lithgow scored consecutive layups off steals, Boudreau hit a tough floater in the lane, and Capozzi (four points, five rebounds) made a nice post-up move to pull Revere within 42-36 after their 8-0 run.Â
Somerville called a timeout to try to settle down as Revere’s full-court, pressure defense was relentless. The talented Highlanders, led by sophomore guard Marcos Montiel (17 points) and junior forward Alexi Downie (11 points), came out off the stoppage and scored the next six points to push the lead back to 12.
Lithgow made a three-pointer and Boudreau hit two free throws to cut the margin to seven with 2:04 remaining, but that was as close as the Patriots would get, as Somerville made their free throws down the stretch to win 56-42.Â
“The kids really showed some heart staying in this game tonight after falling behind 13-0,†said Leary. “One of our strengths this year so far has been three point shooting, but we were only 1-for-17 against Somerville. Our pressure defense was good, but sometimes you just do not make enough shots. We will bounce back and learn from this,†— a prophetic comment in light of the Patriots’ two victories later in the week.
Leary and his crew, who now are 4-3 on the season, were set to travel to Malden last night (Tuesday) for another GBL matchup and will travel down Broadway tomorrow (Thursday) at 7 p.m. to take on cross-town archrival Chelsea.
They then will trek to KIPP Academy on Monday and host Wakefield next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
RHS swim team wins two meets
The Revere High team earned a pair of victories this past week, defeating East Boston and Somerville on consecutive nights.
“It was a good bounce back week for us after losing to Malden,†said RHS head coach Chris Hill. “We had two meets and we won both.â€
On Tuesday the Patriots earned a 56-38 victory over non-league rival East Boston at the Paris St. pool. Revere’s top relay team of David Del Rio, Reked Caushaj, Ashton Hoang, and Ahmed Khalid led the way, winning both the 200 and 400 free relays.Â
Ashton also took first in the 200 free, Ahmed second in the 100 free, and David and Reked went 2-3 in the 50 free. Â
Isabella Veraldi scored victories in both the 200 IM and the 100 back. Jeffery Martinez had a big win in the 100 fly. Gavin Rua and Kathy Trihn came up big for the team by going 2-3 in the 500 free. Team captain Sonia Salazar took second place in both the 200 free and the 100 breast stroke. Freshman Luanna Carvalhais took a third place, swimming her first 200 IM.
On Wednesday the Patriots defeated Somerville for the second time this season, 81-56. Â
Revere took first place in every event. In the 200 medley relay, Veraldi, Salazar, Khalid, and Martinez won their race, as did the quartet of Del Rio, Caushaj, Hoang and Khalid in the 200 free relay. Martinez replaced Khalid in the victorious 400 free relay.Â
In the individual races, Caushaj won the 200 free and 100 fly, Del Rio won the 200 IM and 100 back, Hoang won the 100 breast, Khalid the 100 free, and Veraldi took the 500 free. Â
Some notable other swims for Revere included Miguel Leonarte taking second place in the 200 free; Lucas Mejia grabbing second in the 50 free with a personal best time of 27.84; Jennifer Rivera’s fourth place place, swimming her first 500 free; and senior Elsy Romero scored for the team in the 100 back.
Hill and his crew are scheduled to travel to Medford tomorrow (Thursday).
RHS girls track defeats Somerville
The Revere High girls indoor track & field team earned its second victory of the season with a 55-31 triumph over Greater Boston League (GBL) rival Somerville last Tuesday evening.
The Lady Patriots took an early lead in the contest, outscoring their Lady Highlander opponents by a wide 15-3 margin in the field events, and never were threatened after that.
“We had a lot more depth than they did and our 15-3 advantage in the field events helped separate us on the scoreboard,†said RHS head coach Antonio LaBruna.
Revere took first place in six of the nine individual events. First-place finishers for the Lady Patriots were:Â
Jerelys Canales (50Y Dash) 6.9
Luana Barbosa (High Hurdles) 8.0
Astrid Umanzor (600M) 2:03.8
Fatima Hartout (2 Mile) 15:21
Crystal Valente (Shot-put) 26’1â€
Lorina Tran (High Jump) 4’8â€
Adding three points to the Revere side of the scoresheet with second-place performances were:
Carolina Bettero (High Hurdles) 8.0
Kathy Umanzor (300M) 49.7
Nubya Filho (600M) 2:04.6
Yaritza Ganoza (1000M) 4:09
Yulissa Santana (Mile) 7:37
Arianna Keohane (Shot-put) 22’4â€
Contributing single points with third-place efforts were:
Kyra Delaney (50Y Dash) 7.1
Isabella DeToni (300M) 56.1
Kyara Rodriguez (1000M) 4:10
Keneisha Germain (Mile) 8:28
Salome Gezehagn (2 Mile) 17:12
Isabella Mellone (21’10â€)
Luana Barbosa (High Jump) 4’8â€
“Lorina Tran won the high jump for the second straight meet and is getting closer to making the D-1 state qualifying jump of 4’-10â€,†noted LaBruna. “Lorina is starting to jump 4’-8†consistently and has had some really good attempts at 4’-10â€. She has really bought into the event and works hard to get better.
“Jerelys Canales had another strong meet, winning the dash,†LaBruna added. “Jerelys was running JV events for most of last season, but has taken the reins her sophomore year as our top sprinter.â€
LaBruna and his crew, who now are 2-0 in the GBL, are off this week and will host GBL foe Medford next Thursday (Jan. 23) at 7 p.m. at the Merullo Fieldhouse at Revere High School.
RHS girls basketball looks for strong second half
The Revere High girls basketball team came up on the short end of its three contests this past week, falling to Pentucker, Lynn English, and Medford.
“We had a tough week,†said RHS head coach Matt Willis. “We completed hard against defending state champion Pentucket, but fell short, and we lost to a hard-working Lynn English team.â€
In the 44-41 loss to Greater Boston League rival Medford, freshman Elaysia Lung made her first varsity start and was a defensive pest all game for the Lady Patriots, recording six steals and deflecting numerous passes that disrupted Medford’s offensive rhythm.
“We hope to show more effort and teamwork and have a strong second half of the season,†noted Willis.Â
The Lady Patriots were set to host GBL foe Malden last night (Tuesday), and will play at Winthrop this coming Monday
RHS hockey hosts Norton this evening
The Revere High hockey team will seek to get back on the winning track when the Patriots host Norton this evening (Wednesday) at Cronin Rink. The opening face-off is set for 6:30 p.m.
After earning a win by forfeit from East Boston last week, the Patriots came up on the short end of a 4-0 decision at Hamilton-Wenham this past Saturday.
Revere started the contest with a fine effort, controlling the play through most of the first period, but it was the Generals who drew first blood, scoring two goals in the opening 15 minutes and then tacking on single goals in each of the next two periods for the 4-0 finale.
“Overall, we’re working hard and skating well, but we have not been able to finish our scoring opportunities,†said RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello. “Then, when the other team scores, we get down on ourselves and we have difficulty coming back.â€
After tonight’s contest with Norton, the Patriots, who are 2-5-2 on the season, will entertain Nashoba Regional on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and Northeast Regional next Wednesday at 5 p.m.