4 X 200 Relay Team Competes at D-1 Meet

The Everett High 4 x 200 indoor relay team of Lorentz Etienne, Dominique Brown, Eric Senibaldi, and Jonathan Pharel competed in Monday’s Division 1 State Meet at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. The meet originally had been scheduled for last Thursday, but was postponed on account of the snow storm.

“The boys ran a great race today,” said EHS head coach Shelanda Irish of the quartet’s time of 1:38.46. “I was a little concerned about Pharel’s right finger, which he re-injured last week, in regards to him being able to hold the baton correctly.  Also, Dominique’s  hamstring has been bothering him.  I told the boys they just have to make sure to communicate to one another during those exchanges in order to get the baton around.

“I didn’t expect them to run their fastest time of the season, but that’s just what they did,” continued Irish. “They were in a competitive heat and were just edged out of 2nd place in their heat by Malden.  They (Malden) ran a 1:38.39 and Pharel made up some distance to really give the Malden kid a race to the finish.

“It was a nice way for them to end the indoor season,” continued the coach. “The boys were really excited to compete on the 13th (the originaly-scheduled date) and then when it got moved to Monday, they were a little disappointed.  However, they continued to train hard and they ended the season on a good note with their performance.”

Lady Crimson Tide fall just short in bid for state tourney spot

The Everett High girls basketball team learned the meaning of the oft-quoted sports truism, “Close only counts in horseshoes,” as their late-season dash for a state tourney berth fell short by six points in Salem Monday evening with a 50-44 loss in the final game of the year.

The Lady Crimson Tide had begun the week by needing to win their remaining three games in order to claim a post-season berth.  The Everett girls got two-thirds of the way there and preserved their right to claim a tourney bid in the season finale by winning their two games last week, 66-62 in double-overtime at Haverhill last Wednesday and then 38-26 Friday evening over Malden on the EHS court that was highlighted by Senior Night festivities.

The victory at Haverhill was triply-dramatic, because the Lady Crimson Tide first had to fight back in the final minutes of regulation to send the game into overtime after squandering a 44-31 lead that they had built after three periods. Yemi Okhihan was the initial hero thanks to some steals and drives to the basket that knotted matters at 48-48 by the end of regulation play.

Then in the first OT session, the Lady Crimson Tide found themselves behind the proverbial 8-ball once again when Haverhill took a five point lead. Okhihan made another big steal in the waning seconds and found Talia Riccioli open beyond the arc, from where Talia sank a clutch trey to force matters into double-OT.

The Lady Crimson Tide then worked their magic again in the second four-minute OT session thanks to senior captain Savannah Spinney, who scored six points in the session, and Talia Mirra, who hit a clutch free throw in the final 10 seconds to make it a two-possession game that accounted for the 68-64 final count.

Three Lady Crimson Tide players hit for double figures, led by Spinney with 23, Okhihan with 17, and Riccioli with 12. Lunica Figueroa added seven, followed by Mirra and Netta Johnson with two apiece.

Friday’s Senior Night encounter with Malden was a typical defensive battle between the two GBL rivals. Everett led all the way, taking an 18-10 lead at the intermission and enlarging it to 25-14 after three frames en route to the 38-26 victory.

Spinney led her team with 11 points, followed by Johnson and Figueroa with six each, Riccioli and Mirra with four apiece, Okhihan with three, and Jen Ralon and captain Danielle Haley with two each.

Presentations were made to the four seniors, Spinney, Ralon, Haley,and Jen Roldan, who were honored for their contributions to the Lady Crimson Tide basketball program,

So with their record at 9-10, Everett needed a win in their final contest of the season at Salem Monday evening in order to attain the tourney-qualifying .500 mark.

The Lady Crimson Tide battled all the way, trailing by a slim 21-20 at the half and 38-31 after three frames. However, a four point spread was the closest Everett would get in the final period, bringing an end to their season.

“Obviously, it was disappointing not to qualify for the tourney,” said EHS head coach Tammy Turner. “We had played so hard to be able to get to the point where we still had a chance to make it, but we seemed to be a bit flat-footed and didn’t play with our usual intensity on defense.”

Spinney concluded her fine career with an 11 point effort. Savannah was the leading scorer for the Lady Crimson Tide this season with an 11.8 points per game average. Figueroa also reached double figures with 11 points, followed by Okhihan with nine, Riccioli with seven, and Mirra with six.

EHS hockey team needs three of final four points to reach tourney

The Everett High hockey team pulled out a doubly-dramatic 5-4 victory over Salem in the opening round of the Bishop Mulloy Tournament Monday at Allied Veterans Rink.

The triumph was “doubly-dramatic” because the Crimson Tide first tied the game in regulation with just 0:10 left on the clock on a goal by Chris Durkin, assisted by Gino DeSimone, after EHS goalie Casarra Roderick had been pulled in favor of a sixth skater.

That meant the Tide then had to prevail in a shootout , which ordinarily does not occur in high school hockey games, but because this was a tournament, there had to be a winner. After both teams went through six scoreless attempts (where is T.J. Oshie when you need him!), DeSimone beat the Salem net minder for the gam-winner.

“Both the game and shootout were pretty dramatic,” said EHS head coach in a bit of an understatement. “Casarra did a great job in net to stifle their shooters and then Gino got us the game-winner.”

The teams played cat-and-mouse throughout the contest, with Everett taking an early 1-0 lead on a goal by freshman Bryan Bessler, assisted by Bruno Machado. After Salem knotted matters at 1-1, Marc Faia scored on an unassisted tally before the first period ended to reinstate the Everett lead.

However, Salem struck back in the waning seconds of the middle frame to leave matters at 2-2 entering the final 15 minutes of regulation. Everett forged ahead just three minutes into the period on Faia’s second goal, assisted by Chris Griffin. But Salem then seized the initiative, lighting the lamp twice, to grab a 4-3 lead with five minutes to go, setting the stage for the Tide’s eventual come-from-behind heroics.

However, the victory only counts as a tie for the Tide’s (and Salem”s) official record for purposes of qualifying for the MIAA post-season tournament, which requires a .500 record to attain a spot. Everett now stands at 8-9-1 on the season. Naumann and his crew must take three of the possible four points in their last two games, starting this evening  (Wednesday) against Northeast Regional in the final of the Mulloy Tourney.  Everett then will trek to Revere Friday afternoon for the season finale.

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