After losing to Somerville, Everett boys basketball bounces back to beat Worcester North, Medford to clinch postseason berth

Tide boys will now take on non-league host Newton South Friday night, while the girls are in Lynn to face the Rams

By Joe McConnell

The Everett High School boys basketball team (11-7) has clinched a Division 1 state tournament berth after beating host Medford Tuesday night with still four games left on the regular season schedule.

The Crimson Tide boys have been on a roll, winning their last three out of four games. Host Somerville was the only team to spoil the fun in this most recent stretch of games. The Feb. 3 54-45 loss to the Highlanders only served as a wakeup call for coach Gerard Boyce’s squad that went on to beat non-league Worcester North at home on Feb. 9, 47-40, and Medford the very next night on the road, 57-50, which secured that aforementioned spot in the postseason. The latest MIAA power rankings came out prior to the Medford contest, and the Tide was seeded 33^rd in a division that contains 66 teams.

The third year Everett coach said that his team showed “incredible stamina and mental toughness” to beat the Mustangs on the second night of back-to-back games. It was also their 10^th win in the last 12 games.

The coach said that the win over the Mustangs was fueled by the offensive dominance of Cristian Vasquez (26 points) and Samir King-Dacosta (14).

After last week’s loss to Somerville, Boyce said that it was “a wakeup call,” while adding, “give Somerville credit, they came out hungry and played with a level of intensity that we couldn’t match early on in the game.”

The veteran Everett coach then admitted that his club might have been guilty of looking past Somerville, and as a result wasn’t properly focused on the game.

“In this league, if you aren’t mentally locked-in from the jump, you’re going to pay for it,” he said. “We let our guard down, and it showed in our execution. But we’ll use this game as a lesson that we can’t take any opponent for granted if we want to get to where we’re trying to go.”

The game against Worcester North was scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 7, at home, but it had to be postponed, because of another winter storm. It was also supposed to be the team’s Senior Night, but all of that pomp and circumstance was moved to Monday night.

“We put together a gritty effort to beat a tough Worcester North squad,” said Boyce. “We were locked-in defensively to hold Worcester to 40 points. This win gives us the kind of momentum that we need as we head into the final few games on the regular season schedule.”

Vasquez (19 points) and Jayden Alsaindor (17) paced the offensive attack against Worcester North. But Boyce was quick to point out that “it was a total team effort,” which got them back into the win column.

Following the home game against Revere on Feb. 12 after press deadline, the Everett boys will be heading to Newton to face non-league host Newton South on Friday night, Feb. 13, starting at 6:30 p.m. They will then wrap up the regular season with two road games against non-league Beverly (Feb. 18, 7 p.m.) and league rival Lynn Classical (Feb. 19, 4:30 p.m.) next week.

Girls drop two home contests

The Everett High girls basketball team (5-9) dropped two home games last week to Somerville (60-41, Feb. 3) and non-league Lawrence two nights later, 63-56.

Kat Landaverde Vazquez was the star of the game for Everett against Somerville after coming up with 11 points and seven rebounds. Casey Martinez also turned in a fine performance with nine points and four steals.

“Despite the final score, we overcame adversity to remain relentless until the final horn sounded,” said coach Riley Dunn. “We had players step up like Ashley Heath, who started her first varsity game, and went on to play with incredible hustle on defense and composure on offense.”

As a team, the Tide played great basketball together for two quarters, according to Dunn, before running out of gas. “We did a lot of great stuff out there, as we continue to get better,” she added.

Dunn also mentioned that she remains so proud and fortunate to coach this group. “I know after a loss they are always ready to make adjustments, and having these types of athletes, who are coachable and mentally tough to get through the challenges of a season, is a gift,” she said.

The Tide have since taken on host Revere on Feb. 12 after press deadline, which began a road trip that also includes a game against Lynn Classical Friday night, Feb. 13, starting at 6 p.m. They will then head to Haverhill Sunday (Feb. 15) for a non-league encounter against the Hillies, beginning at noon. Gloucester (Feb. 17, 1 p.m.), Lynn Classical (Feb. 18, 1 p.m.) and Worcester North (Feb. 19, 1 p.m.) will then come to Everett during school vacation week to close out the regular season schedule. The Tide’s postseason hopes remain alive with little margin for error.