Everett boys’ basketball clinches postseason berth with win over Somerville

Tide wraps up the league season at home Wednesday against Revere on Senior Night

  The Everett High School boys’ basketball team (10-3 in the Greater Boston League, 10-6 overall) is in the state tournament after dismantling Somerville Tuesday night (Feb. 7), 57-39.

  In last Thursday’s night’s showdown against undefeated Lynn English, the Crimson Tide turned in a much better effort against the Bulldogs than the first time these two teams hooked up, which resulted in a 40-point loss. This time around, the Bulldogs ended up winning the game with a second half explosion, 74-56. They only led by five at halftime, 33-28.

  “We did a good job controlling their full-court pressure in the first half,” said coach Stanley Chamblain, “particularly our point guard David De Souza, who did a great job identifying where their double teams were coming from, while also leading our defensive effort to keep things close. But in the third quarter, Lynn English was even more aggressive to outscore us, 23-9, which sealed our fate in this game.”

  De Souza buried only one free throw, but he did pick up nine assists that helped keep the score close for a while.  Steven Cordero was actually the big gun for the Tide against the Bulldogs with 31 points. “(Cordero) has been in a little slump for a couple of weeks, but he’s picking it back up again for us,” said Chamblain, “which is a good thing for us, because he’s our guy, he’s our scorer.”

  Anderson Joseph was next in line with nine points. Kevin Ruiz accounted for six points. Lesion Ruiz netted four. Karmarri Ellerbe and Cleevence Erilus scored two apiece. Allsin Desruisseaux nailed one free throw, along with De Souza.

  Against the Highlanders, the Tide actually trailed Somerville by two after one quarter, 16-14. But then, the Everett boys went to a full-court zone defense that broke into a man defense to double team their ball carrier to take control of the game. The local quintet led at halftime, 27-19.

  Cordero paced the attack against Somerville with 16 points. Kevin Ruiz chipped in with 13. De Souza came through with 11 points. Joseph had nine points. Christian Vasquez tallied three times. Erilus and Ellerbe ended up with two apiece.

  The Tide will play host to longtime rival Cambridge tonight (Feb. 10) in a good old-fashioned Friday night game, starting at 7 p.m. Revere then comes to town Wednesday (Feb. 15) for the Senior Night game, also beginning at 7 p.m. They will then head to Woburn High School for the annual Comcast Invitational on Feb. 19 and 20 to close out the regular season. Everett will face Newton North in the first game on Feb. 19 at 5 p.m. Central Catholic then takes on Beverly in the nightcap at 6:30 p.m. The consolation game will begin at 12:30 p.m. the next day, followed by the championship showdown at 6:45 p.m.