~ RHS Sports Roundup ~

Revere boys’ hoops team has its ups and downs

By Dom Nicastro

The Patriots near the second half of the season are looking for some consistency. They are 3-5 on the season and 2-4 in the Greater Boston League after eight games. The team fell to Malden, 53-36, and beat Everett in an upset, 44-41.

The Patriots traveled to Malden last Tuesday night to play the Golden Tornadoes back-to-back after hosting and defeating them in the Patriot Holiday Tournament just five days before. The Malden defense was intense from the start. Senior center Amir Yamani, junior guard Josh Mercado (seven points, five steals) and junior guard Ethan Day got Revere going in the early going, but Malden led, 11-8, at the end of the first frame.

The second quarter was more of the same as Malden pressured Revere (24 turnovers) and made it tough on the visitors to score. Senior co-captain Andrew Leone (four points, eight rebounds) and senior co-captain Luke Ellis drained a 3-pointer from the wing to get the Patriots’ offense going. Senior forward Ryan El Babor (four points, two blocks) had a nice drive to the basket, and Day had a floater in the lane to keep Revere close, but the Patriots still trailed, 25-19, at halftime.

Revere came out in the second half and made some adjustments to try to offset the aggressive Malden defense. Junior forward Erick Mayorga had an offensive rebound and putback; Mercado hit a corner 3-pointer and Day (14 points, five rebounds) had a basket plus a foul and two baseline finishes to pull Revere close. However, Malden held on to a two-point lead, 33-31, heading to the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was all Malden, with Revere again struggling. It led to turnovers and transition baskets for the Golden Tornadoes. Revere sophomore forward Sean Burnett made two free throws; El Babor had a putback and Day made a free throw. But the Malden shooting was lights out late in the game.

“We give Malden a lot of credit,” Revere coach David Leary said. “They came out and were the aggressor from the opening tip. They had 22 offensive rebounds and made us turn it over all night. We won’t win a lot of games this year allowing stats like that. Just need to get back to work and continue to try to improve. We can’t dwell on this.”

Revere bounced back huge with a home game against the Crimson Tide of Everett, which came into the game at 4-0 in the league.

“The start of the game did not go well as Everett jumped out to a 6-0 lead from their pressure defense and Revere turnovers,” Leary said.

Mayorga (four points, five rebounds) made an elbow jump shot. Burnett (four points, four rebounds, two blocks) had a fast break layup. El Babor (four points, four rebounds) had a nice layup through traffic and Day scored twice inside to give Revere a 10-8 lead to end the first quarter.

The Revere defense was trapping Everett all over in the halfcourt, and they also got an offensive lift from Yamani (four points, eight rebounds). El Babor had a putback, and Day had two baskets and a free throw and Revere led, 21-19, at halftime.

The first few minutes of the third quarter was all Revere. The home team came out flying with Mercado (three points, four assists, three steals) nailing a 3-pointer from the wing. Burnett had an offensive rebound tip-in, and Day had a nice spin move and layup to extend the Revere lead to 29-20 with 3:42 remaining in the quarter. Revere junior point guard Avi Lung (nine points, five assists and five steals) made a nice drive to the hoop and a few possessions later sank two free throws, giving the Patriots a 33-26 lead heading into the final quarter.

The bigger Everett team came out with a clear focus to get the ball inside to start the fourth quarter and got a few layups and free throws to tighten things up. The Tide went on a 10-2 run to take the lead 36-35 midway through the final quarter. Revere, after a timeout by Coach Leary, relied heavily on their juniors to regain the lead. Day (16 points, five rebounds) made two tough floaters over Everett defenders. Lung drained a three-pointer from the top, and Mayorga hit a baseline jumper to put the Patriots up four with 1:35 remaining.

Everett would then get a basket to make it a one-possession game. After a Revere miss, Everett looked for the equalizer, but Lung jumped the passing lane for a steal and a layup and the Patriots held on for victory.

“We really challenged these guys the last two practices to get back to basics and be tougher on the boards and 50/50 balls,” Leary said. “We definitely played with a ton of energy and passion, and it showed. We stayed together after losing the lead and showed a lot of poise down the stretch, it was a good team win.”

Revere track reaches new heights

Senior Ashley Chandler set a school record in the weight throw with a toss of 20-10 at the Marathon Sports Invitational at the TRACK at New Balance on Sunday.

“No other RHS female had ever competed in this event before this year so it’s great to see Ashley try and succeed at it,” Revere girls track coach Racquel MacDonald-Ciambelli said.

At the MSTCA Freshman/Sophomore Meet at the Reggie Lewis Center, Revere saw some excellent times from three of its sophomores. Olivia Rupp ran a 6:02.86 in the mile, which is only .26 seconds off of her lifetime personal best. Gemma Stamatopolous ran a 1:53.07 in the 600-meter, inching closer to that sub-1:50 goal. Danni Hope Randall ran a 48.8 in the 300-meter.

Revere was scheduled for Malden and Lynn Classical on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at Reggie Lewis.