Lady Patriots fall in Division 1 girls basketball tourney opener

By Dom Nicastro

The Revere High School girls basketball team saw its season come to a close in the Division 1 state tournament. Durfee, seeded No. 28 in the 39-team tourney, beat No. 37 Revere, 54-24, on Tuesday night, Feb. 27 at Durfee High School.

The Hilltopper girls had the edge from the start and now move on to the first round of the tourney that features 32 teams left battling for a chance to get into the state championship game in March. It will play fifth-seeded Wellesley on the road on Feb. 29 at 6 p.m.

The Patriots were under constant full court pressure from Durfee all night and couldn’t get into a rhythm offensively. On defense, it was hard for the Patriots to keep up with the balanced attack from the Hilltoppers. Julia Hargraves (13 points), Maggie O’Connell (12), Alex Lapointe (12), Maddie Hargraves (eight) and Skylah Coward (six) led the way for the hosts.

Ariana Rivera stepped into the role of Revere’s head coach for the first time this season. She previously served as an assistant coach for two years. Rivera played at Burlington High School and UMass Boston as a shooting guard and then racked up some coaching experience at King Phillip before coming to Revere. Her experience showed, guiding the Patriots to a winning record pretty much from the jump.

Coming into this season, the Patriots faced challenges the year before due to a lack of seniors. But they had six seniors this winter, four of whom serve as captains, on the court this season, and the leadership showed from the start. Revere was the team to beat in the GBL for most of the season. Senior point guard Haley Belloise, senior forward Alisha Jean, senior center Belma Velic and senior guard Bella Stamatopoulos served as captains, and guard Rocio Gonzalez and forward Julianna Bolton rounded out the senior class for the Patriots this season.

Revere went into the postseason game this week as the No. 37 seed out of 39 teams in the state’s top division. The Patriots finished the season with an overall record of 14-7. They were 14-6 coming into the tournament and had won a share of the Greater Boston League title.

Revere and fellow GBL teams Malden and Medford were the final three seeds in the bracket. Malden fell to King Phillip Regional, 68-28, in the preliminary round, and Lincoln-Sudbury dropped Medford, 59-40. Lynn Classical, another GBL team, fell in the Division 3 preliminary round, 50-41, to Notre Dame in Worcester.

Revere boys, girls track competes at Meet of Champions

The Revere boys track team competed in the Meet of Champions las weekend, or the All-State meet. Four Revere athletes took part: three from the boys team, one from the girls. All are seniors. Boys: JV Cunha, 600 meters; Medy Bellemsieh, 600 meters; Kevin Purcifull, Weight Throw. Girls: Ashley Chandler, Weight Throw.

JV Cunha finished in second place in 1:21.95, which breaks his own school record he set earlier this season. JV’s time is the 26th fastest in the United States this season.

“JV was in third for much of the race, but when he saw the first-place runner begin to falter, JV turned on the jets, closed strong and almost caught the eventual winner,” Revere boys track coach David Fleming said. “He just ran out of track.”

Cunha finished second to Cameron Walter of Brookline, who ran 1:21.13.

Kevin Purcifull finished seventh in the Weight Throw with a throw of 50-3.75. This throw improved his existing school indoor record by more than six feet. “Kevin worked really hard this season,” Fleming said. “It was exciting to see him throw well and make it to the podium [top eight make it].”