Crimson Tide boys basketball drops two competitive road encounters to close out the first week of the season; Girls beat Chelsea in the home opener

By Joe McConnell

After an exhilarating 66-43 win over Malden in a home opener that was filled with electricity both on the court and in the stands on Dec. 16, the Everett High School boys basketball team (1-2) had to find a way to get up for the road game at Chelsea just two nights later. As it turned out, it was difficult to do so, and the end result was a bitter one-point loss to those Red Devils, 44-43. They then dropped a 57-46 decision to non-league host Brockton the very next night.

The game against Chelsea was “a tough, tightly contested affair that we knew it would be,” said third-year coach Gerard Boyce afterwards. “Credit to Chelsea, they executed when it counted the most to earn this significant win for their program.”

Boyce was hardly disappointed with the effort from his own team. “I was certainly proud of the way we played. We had moments of strong defensive intensity, but as I mentioned before, we also had some costly turnovers down the stretch. We still need to find a way to close out games better.”

There was, however, little time to reflect on the Chelsea loss, because the Crimson Tide had another road game at Brockton 24 hours later. The Boxers were once a longtime rival, particularly in football and basketball.

“As I have always said, one game does not make a season,” said Boyce. “We will regroup, watch film and continue to focus on refining our execution. The goal remains the same, and that’s to get better each week.”

The Brockton game was “challenging,” according to Boyce. The Tide came out fast and were able to maintain a lead throughout most of the game. The visitors had good rhythm on offense and were intense once again on defense for three quarters. But then, they ran into foul trouble with two starters fouling out and predictably couldn’t sustain that intensity.

“While the result was not what we wanted, the highlight was our resilience,” said Boyce. “The boys continued to fight, and we will continue to use the film from these two games as a learning experience.”

There’s nothing that the Tide can do about these two losses. They must move onto the next game, and that was against visiting Lynn Classical on Dec. 23 after press deadline. The Everett quintet won’t play another Greater Boston League (GBL) game until Jan. 6 versus host Lynn English at 7 p.m. They will then return home to face Somerville on Jan. 8 at the same time.

Tide girls win home opener

The Crimson Tide girls basketball team (1-1) bounced back nicely from the 44-39 heartbreaker against host Malden to beat Chelsea in the home opener on Dec. 18, 46-42.

“We played a tough Chelsea team in a game that came down to the final few seconds,” said coach Riley Dunn. “Shoutout to Chelsea for showing up and really challenging us on our home court. It was another close game, but this time we finished it off with a win. Credit our fans, they provided a tremendously loud environment for us.”

Captain Katerin Landaverde paced the offensive attack with 12 points. Casey Martinez and Nicole Damaceno, the team’s other two captains, both chipped in with eight points apiece, and were relentless throughout to seal the deal on the opening night win at home. Julianna Rivera hit some key shots down the stretch to keep her teammates in the game, before they pulled it out in the end.

“I was proud of our effort, and the team’s overall composure in the final moments of the game,” Dunn said.

After taking a few days off for Christmas, the Everett girls will suit up again, when Haverhill comes to town on Dec. 30 for a non-league game, starting at 1:30 p.m.