Tide gets ready for Garden game Saturday with convincing win over Somerville

Everett begins next week at home against Malden Tuesday 

The Everett High School boys’ basketball team (5-2 in the Greater Boston League, 5-4 overall) played just one game this past week, and that was a victory over visiting Somerville on Jan. 12, 57-31. In order to avoid too many games in one week, coach Stanley Chamblain pushed back Tuesday’s home game versus Revere to Feb. 15 after cancelling Monday’s St. Mary’s of Lynn game. They faced visiting Medford Thursday night, before playing non-league Beverly at the TD Garden on Saturday, Jan. 21, in the annual  Andrew James Lawson Foundation Invitational, starting at 1:30 p.m.

But now back to the Highlanders game last week, the Crimson Tide quintet cruised throughout. They led at halftime, 27-16. With Steven Cordero in early foul trouble, David De Souza stepped it up to pace the offensive attack with 18 points.

“It was a breakthrough game for (De Souza). He set the tone from the onset, especially after (Cordero) got into foul trouble,” said Chamblain. “He was aggressive throughout, which created points for himself, as well as his teammates.”

Cleevance Erilus accounted for eight points. Allsin Desruisseaux and Jaden Hill chipped in with six apiece. “(Erilus) and (Hill) really picked things up in the second half with Cordero sitting on the bench most of the time again because of foul trouble,” said Chamblain.

Chamblain thought his team turned in an excellent collective effort on defense to prevent Somerville from staging a comeback. “They followed the flight of the basketball quite well, while controlling the glass. Most of our points came off the transition,” he added. “They really broke out of their shell to show character playing most of the game without Cordero.”

The state tournament rankings came out for the first time this season on Tuesday, Jan. 17, and the Everett boys are currently ranked 53^rd in the 65-team Division 1 field. Teams that end up with at least 10 wins or with a winning record automatically qualify for the postseason.

Here are those rankings to date: 1. Lawrence 10-1, 2. Central Catholic 8-1, 3 Franklin 6-0, 4. Catholic Memorial 9-2, 5. Newton North 7-2, 6. North High 10-2, 7 Needham 7-1, 8. Lowell 6-3, 9. Xaverian Brothers 4-3, 10. Lynn English 10-0, 11. Springfield Central 6-3, 12. Taunton 5-3, 13. North Andover 5-4, 14. Wellesley 6-2, 15. Waltham 7-2, 16. Haverhill 5-4, 17. Methuen 6-4, 18. King Philip Regional 6-3, 19. Andover 4-4, 20. Beverly 5-4, 21. Bishop Feehan 5-4, 22. Marshfield 7-1, 23. Brockton 4-4, 24. Arlington 5-4, 25. Peabody 8-2, 26. New Bedford 7-1, 27. Brookline 5-5, 28. St. John’s 4-6, 29. Cambridge Rindge & Latin 6-3, 30. Attleboro 5-4, 31. Lexington 6-3, 32. St. John’s Prep 2-7, 33. Boston College High 3-6, 34. Winchester 7-2, 35. Doherty Memorial 9-2, 36. Acton-Boxborough 5-5, 37. Natick 4-4, 38. Durfee 5-4, 39. Malden 7-3, 40. Chelmsford 6-4, 41. Weymouth 5-5, 42. Belmont 3-4, 43. Algonquin 4-4, 44. Braintree 3-6, 45. Putnam Vo-Tech 5-4, 46. Hingham 4-6, 47. Hopkinton 5-4, 48. Reading Memorial 4-3, 49. Wachusett Regional 2-5, 50. Westford Academy 4-6, 51. Milford 4-5, 52. Bridgewater-Raynham 3-7, 53. Everett 5-4, 54. Framingham 2-6, 55. Newton South 4-5, 56. Boston Latin 3-4, 57. Lincoln-Sudbury 3-8, 58. Medford 3-4, 59. Barnstable 3-6, 60. Concord-Carlisle 6-3, 61. Lynn Classical 4-7, 62. St. Paul Diocesan 1-8, 63. Quincy 1-8, 64. Shrewsbury 2-5, and 65. Woburn 2-8.

After closing out the week against Medford and Beverly, the Everett boys will be looking to avenge an earlier loss to Malden Tuesday night, Jan. 24, at home, starting at 7 p.m. The Golden Tornadoes won the first meeting at their place last month, 59-46.