Tide boys’ basketball goes back to the drawing board after two losses in BABC Tournament

After this week’s learning experience, Everett gets ready for the home opener against Chelsea Tuesday night  

  After this week’s results in the annual BABC (Boston Amateur Basketball Club) Winter Tournament at Cathedral High School, Everett High School boys’ basketball coach Stanley Chamblain has a lot of teaching points for his young team to learn in practice, before the Greater Boston League (GBL) schedule resumes next week against Chelsea in the home opener Tuesday night (Jan. 3), starting at 7 p.m.

  The Crimson Tide (2-3) first lost to Boston College High School in a blowout that began the two-day tournament on Dec. 27, and then Jeremiah Burke pinned an 82-53 loss on them the next day. The Burke encounter was a much more competitive battle well into the third quarter until Everett’s Boston counterpart started to pull away later in the game.

  “We have grown a lot in the early going, but there’s still more growth that needs to be made,” Chamblain said. “We have hit a wall, but now we have to find a way to break through it. We’re still a young team with only three players on the roster that have any type of varsity experience before this year.

  “We have to learn to be more consistent, and also learn to take a punch, while learning how to punch right back, when the going gets tough in games,” the coach added.

Kevin Ruiz paced the offensive attack against Burke with 17 points. He was Everett’s only double-digit scorer in this game. David De Souza led the team in scoring against the Eagles in the tourney opener with 10 points.

  But a couple of young stars, junior Cleevance Erilus and sophomore Jaden Hill, stepped up this week with promising performances. Erilus had nine points against Burke, while playing at a high level on defense, and Hill, one of Chamblain’s developing young players, also enjoyed a good game with five rebounds, three steals and nine points.

  Chamblain remarked that his team has to get back to playing Everett basketball that emphasizes intense defense, which dictates the team’s running offense. “Right now, we have become a stagnant offense that stands around waiting to take a good shot,” he said. “We can’t look back at these two games. We have to look ahead to the new year, and our upcoming league games. We don’t want that sour feeling and that feeling of emptiness to linger, so we can get back to our brand of basketball, when the calendar flips to 2023.”

  After the aforementioned home opener against Chelsea on Tuesday night, the Tide will hit the road to take on Lynn Classical on Thursday night, before returning to the friendly confines of Everett High School to play host to Lynn English, one of the state’s top teams, on Tuesday, Jan. 10. All three games will begin at 7 p.m.