RHS Girls Track Nips Malden, 44-42
The Revere High girls indoor track and field team defeated Greater Boston League rival Malden in dramatic fashion last Wednesday by winning the last event, the 4 x 400 relay, to claim a 44-42 victory over the Lady Golden Tornadoes.
With Malden holding a 42-39 advantage as the relay runners lined up for the start, the Lady Patriot foursome of Ashley Cabrera, Luisa Khorsi, Giselle Rodriguez, and Danni Hope Randall knew that the outcome of the meet literally was in their hands and feet — they needed both to pass the baton smoothly and outrace their Lady Golden Tornado counterparts in order to bring a victory to their team.
When Randall crossed the finish line, the Revere quartet’s final time of 5:06.4 was more than 10 seconds faster than their Malden opponents.
While the 4 x 400 team provided the victory in dramatic fashion, a host of Lady Patriots contributed mightily to the Revere winning effort during the course of the evening.
Revere’s 50 yard dash trio of senior captain Kyra Delaney (6.8 seconds), Ashley Cabrera (6.9), and Giselle Salvador (6.91) swept their race, adding nine points on the Revere side of the scoresheet.
“It was great to see these girls all under that seven-second mark,” said RHS head coach Racquel MacDonald. “This marks huge progress for each one of them.”
The Lady Patriots also swept the 300 and 600 meter dashes. In the 300, Luisa Khorsi took 1st (52.2), Danni Hope Randall took 2nd (52.4), and Rania Hamdani took 3rd (53.7).
In the 600, Yasmin Riazi came across in 1st place (2.09.8), Reyhan Bensadok took 2nd (2:10.2) and Hiba El Bzyouy took 3rd (2:12.1).
The Lady Patriot two-mile duo of Olivia Rupp and Daniela Baez Santana went 1-2 with Olivia taking 1st with a clocking of 14.29.6 — “Very impressive considering it’s her first time racing this event,” noted MacDonald — and .Daniela finishing 2nd with a huge personal record (PR), breaking 16 minutes, with a time of 15.56.7.
And in a meet where every point mattered, notable third-place finishes included Francoise Kodjo with a big PR in the shot put (24′-11.5′) (“Francoise is really zeroing in on the 25′ goal,” said MacDonald); Ayra Vranic in the 50 yard hurdles (9.3 seconds); Ashley Chandler in the 1000m (4:28.7); and Samantha Solis in the 1 mile (7:13.5).
MacDonald and her crew took on Lynn Classical in their final dual meet of the season this past Monday and then will compete in the GBL Meet this Friday at the Reggie Lewis Center.
“We’re looking forward to closing out the regular season on a high note,” said MacDonald, whose squad stood at 4-2 after the Malden victory.
Another Medal for Yuong; Delaney Also Does Well at MSTCA Meet
Revere High sophomore track standout Liv Yuong brought home another medal in a major invitational meet, this time for her third-place finish overall in the extremely competitive high jump field with a leap of 5′-2″ at the MSTCA Coaches Invitational Meet this past Sunday at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in Boston.
Also competing in the meet was RHS senior captain Kyra Delaney, who competed in the 55 meter dash and came away with a time of 8.19.
OT Heartbreaker for RHS Boys Basketball
The Revere High boys basketball team spent last week on the road in Lynn, first meeting Greater Boston League rival Lynn Classical on Tuesday night and then taking on GBL foe Lynn English on Thursday evening.
The Patriots came out hot in the first quarter at Classical, getting three-pointers from senior captain Vincent Nichols, sophomore guard Josh Mercado, and two three-pointers from senior captain Alejandro Hincapie (13 points, four assists, and three steals on the night).
Senior captain Sal DeAngelis (nine points) made a nice move to the basket and Revere led 16-9 to end the first quarter.
The second quarter was very competitive as both teams continued to trade baskets, Revere junior forward Ryan El Babor slashed to the basket for a layup, sophomore guard Sami Mhgizou had a strong drive for two, and Nichols and Hincapie knocked down a three-pointer each to build Revere’s lead to 30-22 at halftime.
The Patriots came out of the locker room after the intermission looking to continue where they had left off and to seize control of the game — and the first few minutes went their way.
Sophomore guard Ethan Day had two nice baskets getting to the rim and Nichols (who finished with a strong double-double of 19 points and 18 rebounds) exploded to the hoop for a layup and drained another three-pointer.
DeAngelis also had two nice drives and a three-pointer to push the lead to 47-26 midway through the third frame.
The Rams called a timeout and came out like a different team. They picked up their defensive intensity and began to make deep shots. Classical ended the quarter on a 7-0 run to close the gap to 47-33 heading into the final period.
The momentum had changed and Revere was struggling to score for most of the fourth quarter. The Rams continued their hot shooting from the perimeter and continued to cut into the Revere margin, bringing it down to 47-42 with 2:35 remaining in the game.
Revere got a three-pointer and a free throw from Nichols to go up 51-47 with 1:12 left on the clock, but Classical answered with a floater in the lane — and it was 51-49 Revere with 43 seconds to play.
The Patriots had a good possession and got a good look that rimmed out, and unfortunately Classical came down with an offensive rebound and got fouled with 11 seconds to go. The Rams were in the bonus and the Classical shooter calmly sank both free throws, sending the game into overtime.
The Patriots’ scoring drought continued into the extra frame. A full-court shot by DeAngelis came close, but bounced out, and Classical had completed the comeback to beat Revere 55-53.
“Back-to-back, heart-breaking losses for our guys, but I’m proud of our fight,” said RHS head coach David Leary after the stunning loss, referring to the loss the previous week to Somerville on a half-court buzzer-beater. “We have a gritty group of guys and I know we can bounce back from this, but we are running out of opportunities. Just need to keep working and believing in each other.â€
Two nights later, Leary and his crew ventured onto the home court of the Lynn English Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are the Big Dogs of the GBL and the No. Shore this season, sporting an undefeated record at 13-0 overall and being ranked as one of the top three teams in the state in the polls. They have averaged more than 86 points per game while holding their opponents to an average of 39 — a truly dominating ratio.
The undersized Patriots tried their best to keep it close early and took a lead 3-2 just a minute in on a three-pointer from senior captain Vinny Vu (nine points, four assists), but unfortunately, other than a layup from sophomore guard Day and a free throw from senior captain Nichols, Revere could not establish any offense against the Bulldogs’ relentless press defense and trailed 25-6 after the first period.
The second quarter was more of the same as Lynn English continued to pressure Revere and rebound over the Patriots (Lynn English 28 offensive rebounds in the game), but the Patriots got a nice layup from junior forward Ryan El Babor (four points, five rebounds) and sophomore guard Sami Mhgizou (eight points, two steals), but trailed 50-13 at halftime.
The third quarter was more competitive as Revere got two more three-pointers from Vu. Junior forward Luke Ellis (five points, four rebounds) knocked down a three-pointer and scored in the paint and El Babor and Day each got baskets to give the Patriots 15 points in the quarter, leaving the score at 68-28 at the end of the third.
Revere continued to play hard the whole way through and got some promising contributions from some of their younger guys. Sophomore guard Sami Mhgizou knocked down a three point shot and had another strong drive to the basket. Sophomore guard Day (four points, four rebounds, four assists) did a nice job handling the ball against the pressure defense and had a nice drive and kick to freshmen forward Sami Welsh, who knocked down a corner three for the first varsity points of his young career.
“It’s never fun playing in a one-sided game like that,” said Leary in the aftermath of the 80-36 finale. “We haven’t had many of those this year other than when we played these guys. That’s one of the best teams in the state, hands-down.
“I thought we got better as the game went on and played very competitively in the second half,” Leary added. “I’m proud that our kids did not quit. We’ll just get back to work.â€
Leary and his crew were scheduled to take on GBL foe Medford last night (Tuesday) and will host Chelsea tomorrow (Thursday) at 7:00 in a big rivalry game for both teams.
They will trek to Malden next Tuesday.
Boys Track Rolls Past Malden, 57-29
The Revere High boys indoor track and field team improved to 5-1 on the season with a 57-29 victory last Wednesday evening at the Merullo Fieldhouse.
Richard Vilme took first in the high jump with a leap of 5′-6″. The Patriots went 1-2 in the shot-put behind the duo of Gabriel Santana with a toss of 41′-7″ and Kevin Purciful with a throw of 34′-00″.
Isaiah Decrosta remained unbeaten in the 50 yard hurdles with a time of 7.2 seconds and teammate Fajr Riazi took third place with a clocking of 8.8.
In the 50-yard dash, Davi Barreto grabbed second with a sprint of 6.2 (just behind the winner who came across in 6.1) and teammate Anthony Pham was close behind in third in the same clocking of 6.2.
Sami Asri grabbed three points with a second-place finish in the 300 dash in 39.4.
Ahmed Bellemsieh topped the field in the 600 dash with a time of 1:38.0 and teammate Kevin Alves was third in 1:44.2.
The Patriots swept the 1000, thanks to the trio of Zaraius Bilimoria (3:19.9), JV Cunha (3:20.1), and David Roth (3:20.2).
Kenan Batic won the mile by 20 seconds with his clocking of 5:18.6 and teammate Adam Assour grabbed third, crossing the line in 5:47.8.
Youness Chahid outran the field in the two mile with his time of 12:36.4.
The Patriots also captured the 4 x 400 with a time of 3:57.7, which was seven seconds faster than their Malden counterparts.
Revere was set to wrap up its dual-meet season this past Monday with Lynn Classical and then will head to the Reggie Lewis Center on Friday for the Greater Boston League Meet.
