RHS sports Roundup
 Lady Patriots roll on, improve to 7-1 mark
It was just another week at the office for the juggernaut Revere High girls basketball team, as the Lady Patriots handled two Northeastern Conference opponents with ease.
Revere led from start to finish in their 62-21 win at Saugus last Tuesday. With leads of 20-2 after one period and 40-6 at the half, the outcome never was in doubt. Senior captain Tiphani Harris and freshman Valentina Pepic led a balanced scoring attack with 10 points apiece, followed by sophomore Meaghan Gotham with eight, the trio of junior Maritza Scott, junior Trisha Cheever, and junior captain Ally Hinojosa with seven each, junior Adanna Hector and freshman Pamela Gonzalez with five apiece, and freshman Tatiana Iacoviello with three points.
Three nights later the Lady Patriots made quick work of Gloucester in a 56-29 runaway. Revere led from the outset with a 20-7 advantage after one period and a 33-13 bulge at the intermission. Once again Revere had nine girls get onto the scoring chart, led by the twin-towers duo of Harris (13 points) and Gotham (11 points), who took care of business in the paint. The quartet of Gonzalez, Scott, junior Natasha Iacoviello and Hinojosa chipped in six points apiece. Pepic added four, Hector had three, and Tatiana Iacoviello sank a free throw. Cheever turned in a solid effort with a passel of rebounds.
“We have 10 girls on our team and all of them can be counted upon to contribute,” said RHS head coach Diana DeCristoforo. “Our three freshmen (Tatiana Iacoviello, Gonzalez, and Pepic) have really come along and have become fully-integrated into our team on both offense and defense.”
The wide margins of victory also gave the Lady Patriots the opportunity to try out different presses and trapping defenses that will be utilized more often as the season progresses.
DeCristoforo and her crew were set to face non-league foe Medford this past Monday and will trek to Danvers Tuesday. They will entertain Swampscott Friday and play at Winthrop next Tuesday. Friday night’s encounter will be Alumni Night at which all RHS girls basketball alumni and their families will be admitted free-of-charge.
RHS girls track team edges Salem
The Revere High girls track team defeated Salem 46-40 Saturday moarning in a closely-contested meet at the RHS field house.
“The meet was very competitive, as it usually is whenever we face Salem,” said RHS head coach Antonio LaBruna. “The girls really stepped up and delivered some clutch performances.”
Among those key efforts was the victory in the high jump by Hannah Fitzpatrick, a freshmen distance runner, who captured the event after a jump-off with her Salem counterpart. After each of the girls cleared 4′-0″ on their second attempts and failed at their 4′-2″ attempts, Hannah cleared 4′-0″ again and the girl from Salem missed, which broke the tie.
“That was a huge event for us because had it gone the other way, the meet would have ended in a tie,” noted LaBruna. Hannah then took second in the two mile in 14:11 to finish the day with eight points.
Another noteworthy performance came from Jessica Cambraia, who won the 300 meter dash with a personal record (PR) time of 47.8. “Jessica is our top sprinter who has been battling shin and ankle injuries the past couple of weeks which also caused her to miss our last meet,” said LaBruna, “so I wasn’t too sure how well she would race, but it looked like the rest actually benefited her.”
Fiona Kerthi, a senior captain, ran what LaBruna termed a “gutsy 600 meter race” to finish third. “Fiona’s best time going into the meet was 2:08 and she shaved off six seconds (2:02) and displaced two Salem competitors to pick up a huge point in a meet where every point mattered,” noted LaBruna. Kerthi also earned a point for the Revere scoresheet with a third place in the shotput with a toss of 24′-10″.
Danielle Fortuna captured first place in the 600 dash with a clocking of 1:57.1 and Nadia Lerari outran the field in the 1000 in a time of 3:42.4.
Second-place finishers for Revere were: Rachel Shanbar with a shotput throw of 25′-9″; Angelisa Nguyen, who ran a PR of 6.6 in the 50 meter dash; Helen Perez with a 300 dash of 51.2; and Suellen Guerreiro in the mile in 6:29.1.
Third place efforts came from: Jasmine Zelkanovic in the 50 hurdles in 9.0; Susan Baghouh in the 300 in 52.3; Lani Stevens in the mile in 7:16; and Jaclynne Dion in the two mile run in 14:42.
The next meet for LaBruna and his Lady Patriots, who are 3-2 on the season, is set for tomorrow (Thursday) when they will host Peabody.
Boys track team
tops Salem, 58-28
The Revere High boys indoor track team took first place in five of the nine individual events to roll past Salem, 58-28, Saturday morning at the RHS fieldhouse.
Nelson Cavallos gave Revere a victory in the high jump with a leap of 5’6″; Mirza Liskovica took the shotput with a heave of 41’1″; Daniel Murphy sprinted to victory in the 50 yard dash in 5.7 seconds; Zachary Gentile led a Revere sweep in the 600 dash with a clocking of 1:37; and Richie Damiano topped the field in the 1000 in a time of 2:54.
The Patriots took second place in seven of the nine events to place three points on the Revere side of the scoresheet. They were: James Petrozelli with a shotput throw of 38′-4″; Lionel Forbes in the 50 yard hurdles in 7.1; Pedro Pimenta in the 50 dash in 6.0; Edi Murjan in the 300 dash in 40.5; Bounlaing Chea in the 600 in 1:39;Â Salah Barhoum in the mile in 5:11; and Zakaria Attioui in the two mile in 11:53.
Third pace finishers for Revere who earned a point for the Revere cause were: Pimenta with a high jump of 5′-2″; David Sinatra in the hurdles in 7.2; Derek Duran in the 300 in 40.6; Thiago Moreira in the 600 in 1:42; Abubakir Aldarazy in the 1000 in 3:14; Sebastian Mejia in the mile in 5:38; and John Simonini in the two mile in 13:45.
The Patriots wrapped up their victory with a win in the 4 x 400 relay with a time of 4:06 compared to Salem’s 4:29.
Earlier in the week, Revere took on Beverly in a make-up of a meet that originally had been scheduled for the previous week. The top performances for the Patriots were turned in by Cavallos, who won the high jump with a leap of 5′-7″, and Forbes, who took first place in the hurdles with a clocking of 7.2.
The Revere boys, who now are 3-2 on the season, will entertain Peabody tomorrow (Thursday) at the Merullo Fieldhouse.
RHS boys fall short in
exciting contest with Chelsea
The Revere High boys basketball team came close, but a desperation shot at the buzzer fell short, leaving the Patriots looking at the short end of an exciting 61-59 loss at Chelsea Wednesday.
The Chelsea-Revere basketball rivalry has become the biggest games (they play a home-and-home series) on both teams’ schedule in recent years, more so than any contest on their respective league schedules. (Chelsea plays in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference and Revere in the Northeastern Conference.) The contentiousness between the schools is reminiscent of the era when both played in the Greater Boston League a generation (or more) ago and the Revere Beach Parkway neighbors battled each other fiercely in every sport.
The stands in the Chelsea gym were filled, a Red Devil mascot appeared, and two Chelsea students were in an “ESPN Chelsea” booth wearing fake commentator headphones and providing analysis of the game.
As for the game itself, both teams displayed offensive firepower from the opening tip, with Chelsea taking a 20-19 lead after one quarter, but with the Patriots moving out to a 35-34 advantage at the half. Marvin Urdaneta was effective for Revere in the paint, scoring six points in the opening frame. Tommy Chea and Janard Jones both hit treys for the Patriots in the second period, though Revere’s strategy to take the ball to the hoop provided plentiful opportunities at the free throw line.
However, the contest changed completely after the intermission. Both teams picked up their defensive intensity, with the result that the Patriots managed just six points in the third quarter and Chelsea only 11, leaving the Red Devils with a 45-41 edge at the third buzzer. That set the stage for an emotion-packed final quarter in which the fans on both sides cheered loudly on every possession. Revere kept matters close, but never could quite manage to gain the upper hand, as Chelsea maintained its slim lead up to the final 11 seconds. Revere set up a pick-and-roll play for Chea, who had been 11-for-13 from the line on the night. However, there was a lot of contact by the help defender on the screen and Tommy got knocked to the floor with no call. Although Chea was able to recover the ball and put up a desperation shot before the buzzer, it bounced off the rim and out.
“Speaking with Chelsea coach (and Revere resident Jay Seigal) before the game, we talked about how amazing this rivalry has become,” said RHS head coach Adam Rizzo. “The games are more intense than our own league games. Fortunately, we get a chance to host Chelsea in Revere on Senior Night which should be a memorable final home game for our seniors.”
Chea led Revere with 16 points. Gerald Charles with 12 points and Urdaneta with 11 also reached double-figures for the Pats. Jones hit for nine, followed by Camilo Gomez with four, Romeo Thomas with three, and the duo of Brendan Hayes and Nermin Ibeljic with two apiece.
The night before, the Patriots dropped a 69-59 decision to Saugus. Once again the Patriots started out on fire, grabbing an 18-9 lead after the first period in which Romeo Thomas drained five buckets from three-point land beyond Saugus’ 2-3 zone defense. However, Saugus whittled the deficit to four at the half, 29-25, as Chea had to take a seat after picking up his second foul and the Revere offense slowed measurably.
The Sachems continued to maintain their momentum after the intermission and forged ahead after three frames, 47-46. Saugus continued to shoot the ball well in the final eight minutes and pulled away for the 10-point victory.
“In the fourth quarter our defense didn’t get the stops we needed and our offense played in desperation mode even though we were within five or seven points most of the quarter,” said Rizzo. “We tried to tie the game in one possession every time rather than chip away at it. We are a young team and need to realize that when there is a lot of basketball left to be played, we don’t have to rush our offense.”
Thomas ended up with seven three-pointers and 25 points on the night. Gomez hit for 10, followed by Charles with nine, Urdaneta with seven, Ibreljic with four, Chea with three, and Hayes with a free throw.
The Patriots completed their week with their longest road trip of the season at Gloucester Friday evening. The contest was a close affair from the outset, with Gloucester holding one point leads after the first two periods (13-12 and 30-29), but Revere taking a one-point edge after three, 42-41. However,the Fishermen’s Andrew Muniz hit for 15 of his game-high 37 points in the final period to propel Gloucester to a 66-58 victory.
Thomas paced Revere in the scoring department with 15 points. Urdaneta struck for 11 points and Gomez reached doubles with 10. Chea added nine, Jones contributed six, Charles added four, Mass Joof chipped in two, and Ibreljic sank a free throw.
The Patriots were set to play at Danvers last night (Tuesday), trek to Swampscott Friday, and then host Winthrop Tuesday.
RHS hockey team
drops two contests
The Revere High hockey team came up short in both of its contests this past week against rivals from the South Division of the Northeastern Conference, falling 3-0 to Salem last Wednesday and then 3-1 at Lynn Saturday.
“We’re not improving as much as we need to in order to be competitive at this stage of the season,” said RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello. “Our first game with Salem was very close (a 3-2 loss for the Pats) and we had a lot of chances to win or tie that game. But we never were really in this one.”
Three days later at Lynn, which is a stronger team than Salem, sophomore Anthony Cecca gave the Patriots a 1-0 lead in the opening period with an unassisted goal on which Anthony came out of the corner and beat the Lynn goalie with a top-shelf shot.
“This was the best period of hockey we’ve played in a while” noted Ciccarello.
However, Lynn evened the count in the middle frame with a lamplighter with just 44 seconds left in the period and then went ahead 2-1 with a goal that ricocheted off a Revere defenseman’s stick just 1:00 into the third period. Lynn finished the game with an empty-net goal when the Pats pulled goalie Max Anderson in favor of a sixth skater in the final minute.
“We’re younger and smaller than most of the teams we’re playing and it has shown in the way we’re not winning the puck in the corners and along the boards,” said Ciccarello.
The Patriots, who now stand at 2-7-2 as the season has passed the halfway mark, will host their former GBL rival, Somerville, tonight (Wednesday) at Cronin Rink at 6:30. They will entertain Swampscott next Wednesday, also at 6:30. In between those home contests, they will make the long ride to Gloucester Saturday.
    RMS sports Basketball
Boys Middle School Hoopsters Impressive in Notching 1st win
The Gloucester Fisherman invaded the SBA gym on Wednesday Jan. 7 to tangle with our Revere Middle School boys. The young Patriots were coming off a disappointing season opening defeat at Marblehead and Coach Erik Maloy’s team was looking to redeem itself in it’s home opener and redeem itself it did. Revere got off to a quick start going  up 8-0 early enroute to a 15-5 first quarter lead and continuing solid 2 way basketball through the second period found themselves on top 31-14 at the break. Gloucester came to life and just about matched our guys hoop for hoop throughout the second half, but that wasn’tnearly enough as the good guys cruised to a lopsided 58-40 win.
 Eric Bua (RMA) and Marcus Brunson (GMS) led all scorers dropping 15 points each. Dorian Andrews (SBA) was next with 10 followed by Scott Montefusco (SBA) who drained two 3 pointers and finished with 8. Harvey Lemus (GMS) and Andres Mejia (RMA) had 3 apiece and GMS sixth grader Dillon Day and Badr Haou (RMA) rounded it outwith 2 points apiece. Coach Maloy got to play everybody in the win and Matt Stasio (RMA), Erick Mariona (RMA), Cam Baker (RMA), Yussuf Ali-Buda (RMA), Sebastian Vanegas (GMA) , and Mike Hayes all played well when called upon. The Pats are 1-1 and will play at SBA vs Saugus on 1/14.
Sluggish Middle School Girls Fall To Gloucester In Home Opener
The Middle school girls hoop team fresh off of a rousing come from behind victory at Marblehead opened their home schedule at SBA gym by coming out flatter than that proverbial pancake and getting dominated  by a bigger Gloucester team. The good guys actually kept it respectable in the first half and trailed 27-20 at the half. With everyone remembering the great second half that they had in their first game had high hopes. However the young (Nine 6th and 7th graders) Lady Pats suffered a complete collapse in just about every phase of the game. Lack of hustle on defense, questionable shot selection, and just poor play all around doomed our girls to a 54-32 blow-out loss. No one really stepped up in the defeat but 9 girls made the score sheet with no one scoring more than 4 points. Melissa Advic (RMA), Elizabeth Woodbury (RMA), Erika Cheever (SBA), Olivia Novoselsky (RMA), and Emily DiGiulio (RMA) all shared scoring honors with 4 points apiece. Eve Lescovitz (SBA), Chloe Giordano (RMA),Alana Nelson (SBA), and Alexis Iacoviello (SBA) all finished with 3 each. Coach Erin Parker played everyone and Catherine Woodbury (RMA), Erica Anderson (RMA), Olivia McManus (RMA), and Frankie DeAngelis all saw action in the defeat. The girls stand at 1-1 and I’m sure that Coach Parker will have them ready to take on Saugus at home on January 14.
                                  BOYS PUT IT ALL TOGETHER IN ROUT OF SAUGUS
          The Saugus Sachems paid a visit to SBA gymnasium on 1/14 to take on our Revere Middle School boys. Erik Maloy’s team came out white hot and raced to a 26-7 1st period lead. The young Pats were clicking in every facet of the game from the opening tap and never looked back. It was 35-11 at halftime and the outcome was never in doubt as everyone got to play in the 69-37 drubbing of neighboring Saugus. 13 players put points in the book with Marcus Brunson (GMS) leading all scorers with 12 points (( in the 1st quarter). Scott Montefusco (SBA) was next up with 9 and Dorian Andrews (SBA) and Harvey Lemus (GMS) went for 8 points apiece. The troika of Sebastian Vanegas (GMS),Matt Stasio (RMA), and Badr Haou (RMA) checked in next with 6 each. Erick Mariona (RMA) had 3, Dillon Day (GMS), Adam Harper (RMA), and Cam Baker (RMA) all went for 2, and Mike Hayes rounded out the scoring with 1 point. Since dropping the season opener at Marblehead, our young Patriots have putting it all together and playing very well and now stand at 2-1.
 Lady Pats Hang on to beat Saugus.
The Middle School girls came out of the locker room hitting on all cylinders and streaked to a 17-0 1st quarter lead on the strength of 8th grader Emily DiGiulio’s 10 1st period points. Coach Erin Parker’s team stayed hot in the 2nd period and held a healthy 27-10 advantage at the break and it looked as if the blow-out was on. NOT SO FAST. The Saugus team seemed to have awakened at halftime and as our girls went into a 3rd quarter funkthe lead shrunk to 9 after 3 periods and we had a game on our hands. As the Lady Patriots continued to swoon the Lady Sachems cut the lead to 3 with 90 seconds left in the game. After a key timeout Revere’s young team dug in on D and escaped with a slim 43-38 victory. After starting out like a house on fire our girls became their own worst enemy as they broke down on defense and missed 28 (YES 28) free throws going 11 for 39 from the line.
 Emily DiGiulio struck for a game high 15 points (only 6 in the second half) and Erika Cheever was next with 10. Olivia Novoselsky went for 8 and Elizabeth Woodbury dropped 4. Catherine Woodbury chipped in with 2 as did Alexis Iacoviello. Alan Nelson and Olivia McManus rounded out the scoring with 1 point apiece. The girls now have a 2-1 record and will travel to Salem on Friday 1/16 to play the Witches.
Middle School boys squeak by Salem
Coach Erik Maloy led his 2-1 boys team into a hornet’s nest at Salem’s Collins Middle School on Friday January 16 where they were met by a loud sellout crowd including Cheerleaders and a rowdy student section. Revere’s guys who have been playing well had their hands full a came out and matched the young Pats hoop for hoop and held a slim 18-16 first quarter lead. It was up and down in the 2nd period as neither team could shake the other and the good guys owned a 33-31 score after 16 minutes. Nothing changed as the second half began with each team playing at a torrid pace. It was still a 1 possession game after 3 quarters and it looked as if it would come down to the team who had the ball last. Back and forth they battled until SBA 8th Grader Scott Montefusco calmly sank 2 huge free  throws in the final seconds to ice a 59-56 hard fought triumph. The local 5 showed remarkable character and resolve by playing great team ball in such a hostile environment. 3 players scored double figures as Montefusco and Sebastian Vanegas each had a  game high 15 and Dorion Andrews went for 10. Harvey Lemus dropped 8. Marcus Brunson had 7, Andres Mejia ended up with 4 important markers. The boys have now won 3 straight and are playing like the proverbial well oiled machine.
Middle School Girls THUMP Salem
The Revere Middle School squad got the opportunity to play on the grand stage of Salem’s varsity floor and it seemed as if they were star struck as they slogged their way to a 6-4 1st quarter lead. It was if they flipped a switch as the 2nd stanza began as the good guys dominated the rest of the game by outscoring the Witches 43-12 over the last 3 periods enroute to a 49-16 final.
Coach Erin Parker got to give EVERYONE plenty of PT and her young troops acquitted themselves very well on the way to the rout.
The Ladies of School Street were paced by 8th grader Emily DiGiulio who tallied 20 points in just 2 periods of play. 7th grader Erika Cheever was next up with 9. The Woodbury twins Elizabeth and Catherine contributed 6 and 2 markers respectively. Olivia Novoselsky and SBA 6th grader both stepped up to score 4 each and Melissa Advic and Chloe Giordano finished the scoring with 2 apiece. Other girls who played very well when they saw the floor were Manuela Montoya (GMS), Olivia McManus  (SBA) , Alana Nelson (SBA), Erica Anderson (RMA), Alexis Iacoviello (SBA), and Eve Lescovitz (SBA) The girls now stand at 3-1 as they await a visit from Swampscott at SBA on Wednesday January 21.
