By Jerry DiStefano
The Revere High Patriots boy’s basketball team had its ups and downs this season. They came out of the gates great but ended up losing their last four games on the season to just miss getting into the state tournament.
The Patriots finished the season with an 8-12 record. Four of the Patriots 12 losses, they lost by a total of seven points. These four losses came against Winthrop (3), Saugus (2), Salem (1) and Beverly (1). Each of these four teams had one thing in common; they all made it to the state tournament.
“My team easily could have been 12-8 instead of 8-12,” said Revere Coach Rick Hayes. “We had so many losses that could have gone either way. These four losses though really hurt, because they came toward the end of our season. We really have more then enough talent to be in the tournament, and we would have been a team that no one would want to play.”
Revere did make history this season, as they had three players selected to the NEC all-star team. It was the most players in Revere’s history making the all-stars. Junior Mike Ciambelli, senior Dom Boyce and senior Gio Gomez represented Revere. These three players had very similar statistics: Ciambelli, 12.1 points and 11 rebounds; Boyce, 9.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and five assists; Gomez, 12 points and nine rebounds.
“These three players led us day in and day out,” said Hayes. “These three guys worked their tails off every day and making the all-star team was just a token of what they really accomplished. I hope all my players work as hard as these three guys.”
Another highlight for Revere was winning the Pope John Tournament during Christmas break. They beat the host Pope John in the semifinals and Lynnfield in the Championship. Lynnfield made it to the Division 4 Final that is being played this week at TD Bank.
“Winning this tournament was really special for my guys,” Coach Hayes said. “We beat two really good teams in the process and it was truly the highlight of our season.”
Revere will lose two of their key players in Boyce and Gomez, but will have eight juniors coming back from this year’s team. The Patriots just came up short missing the tournament this season, but they expect to be back in the big dance next year.