The Everett High girls basketball team enjoyed a superbly successful week, winning all three of its games, including two against Greater Boston League opponents. The trifecta ran the Lady Crimson Tide’s winning streak to four games, moved them into a tie for first place in the GBL with Somerville, and improved their overall season record to 6-4.
Everett began the week with a 36-30 triumph at Salem of the Northeastern Conference. The contest was a hard fought battle all the way, with the Lady Crimson Tide taking a slim 19-18 advantage into the locker room at the half.
However, Everett opened up some breathing room, moving out to a four point lead in the latter half of the fourth period. At that point the contest came down to whether the Lady Crimson Tide would make their free throws when Salem began to commit fouls. EHS point guard Tori Cyrus became the main target of the Salem fouling strategy and she responded
well in the clutch, sinking five of seven free throws in the final few minutes, including three of four in the final minute.
Tori ended up as high scorer with 20 points. Amanda DeSouza hit for seven points and grabbed eight rebounds. Taylor Sweeney scored five points and Savannah Spinney and Jess Wade added two points apiece.
The next night Everett returned to its GBL schedule, traveling to Cambridge, which previously had defeated first place Somerville (which had edged Everett the week before). Everett got off to a rough start, as Cambridge grabbed an early 6-0 lead. Lady Crimson Tide head coach Tammy Turner called a timeout and regrouped her charges.
“I told them that they were being outhustled and that Cambridge was beating them to the loose balls,” said Turner, “and that we needed to pick up the pace.”
Turner’s talk proved a turning point as the Everett girls came out of the timeout firing on all cylinders at both ends of the floor. By halftime, the Lady Crimson Tide had turned the 6-0 deficit into a 27-18 lead, a reversal of 15 points. Everett kept the pedal to the metal after the intermission, piling up their most points of the season en route to a 65-46 triumph.
The senior trio of Cyrus (18 points), Sweeney (17 points, including five three pointers), and DeSouza (17 points and 12 rebounds) turned in stellar performances to pace the big victory. Spressa Ramadani and Spinney popped in four points each, Mimi Febles hit for three, and Janyne Sierra added two points.
The good times kept rolling for the Lady Crimson Tide three nights later with a 51-41 conquest of Medford. Everett held a slim 25-22 edge at the half, but created some separation after the intermission with an eight point bulge that Turner’s crew maintained throughout the final two periods.
Cyrus continued with her hot scoring touch, finishing with 18 points. DeSouza forwarded a powerful double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Mimi Febles tingled the twice for nine points, with Spjnney adding six, Sweeney four, and Ramadani (who pulled down 11 rebounds on the night from her backcourt position) and Wade each sinking a free throw.
Free throw shooting once again played a key role for Everett down the stretch, with Cyrus and Febles both hitting 2 of 2 attempts and DeSouza sinking 4 of 6 from the charity stripe.
“The team has built up a lot of confidence with this winning streak,” said Turner. “The team knows what it takes to win and has begun to come together.”
The Lady Crimson Tide have a key stretch of contests this week, starting with Waltham last night (Tuesday). They journey to Lynn Classical tonight, travel to Somerville for a battle for first place in the GBL Friday, and then host Malden next Tuesday.
Hockey team rocks two foes, now 8-3-1
The Everett High boys hockey team rolled to a pair of impressive victories this past week, defeating O’Bryant High 10-2 last Wednesday and then cruising past Minuteman Regional by a 9-2 tally on Saturday.
Nine different Crimson Tide skaters joined in the scoring party against O’Bryant, led by Shawn Doyle, who lit the red lamp twice. Teammates C.J. Sylvester and Chris Brienza potted their first career varsity goals, with Sylvester also being credited with three assists. Bryan Ramunno, Reardan Sweeney, Stephen Faia, Joe Ricupero, Brian Considine, and Chris Durkin also reached the back of the O’Bryant net.
Vin Sottosanti went most of the way in goal, with D.J. White and Brandon “Beans” Stanciu also seeing action between the pipes to wrap up the victory.
Saturday’s win over Minuteman saw junior Steven Chaves notch his first career hat trick. Ramunno and freshman James Liberge both tallied two goals to go with an assist apiece.
“Our senor captains have really stepped up for us and are leading by example,” said EHS head coach Alex Naumann, who noted in particular the offensive outburst by Ramunno, who has lit the lamp five times in the past three games.
The Crimson Tide, who now stand at 8-3-1 on the season, will host Greater Boston League rival Somerville Saturday at the local rink at 1:20.
EHS Varsity vs. Alumni game
set for January 28
The Everett High boys hockey team will take on their Alumni brethren this Saturday afternoon, January 28, at 3:40, immediately following that day’s Everett-Somerville contest at the local rink.
All EHS hockey alumni who are interested in lacing up the skates to participate in what should be a fun filled afternoon should contact EHS head coach Alex Naumann at his e-mail address, [email protected].
All proceeds (there is a $40.00 fee for the alumni players) will benefit the Everett High hockey program.
EHS track teams race against Somerville
The Everett boys and girls indoor track teams competed against Somerville this past week.
On the boys’ side, Andres Tejada turned in the top finish with a first place performance in the 300 dash in 35.6. Heiu Vo-Tran was the top scorer for the Crimson Tide, contributing six points to the Everett score sheet with second place efforts in the two mile run in 13:29.5 and in the high jump with a leap of 5-2, which was a personal record (PR) for Heiu.
Trevor Freeman came across the line in the hurdles in 7.7 seconds, a PR for Trevor. He was followed by teammate Steven Garrity in third place in 8.5, which also was a PR.
Other members of the Crimson Tide boys’ squad who scored points with third place finishes were: Edwasner Ambroise in the 50 dash in 6.3; Malcolm Alexis in the 600 in 1:30.2; Ricardo Perez in the mile in 6:04; and Brandon Conde in th shotput with a toss of 31-.5.
On the girls’ side, Maeve Kernan brought home a first place finish in the two mile run in 13:28.7.
Second place performances were turned in by: Katelyn Steeves in the 300 in 42.9; Faith Pinho in the 1000 in 3:30.2; Corina Reason with a PR high jump of 4-4; and Jessica Mangan in the mile in 6:23.3.
Adding single points to the Everett scoresheet with third place efforts were: Ramona Clarke in the 50 dash in 7.1; Luana DeMenzes in the 600 in 1:56.4; and Elsbeth Colson in the hurdles in 10.2.
“Unfortunately we weren’t able to get a win vs. Somerville.” said EHS head coach Shelanda Irish. “Our next meet with Medford on Wednesday (today) will be the most competitive meet for us this season. Medford is definitely stronger this season and our teams will need to really be prepared for a battle because Medford is looking for their first win of the season and so are we. It will be a challenging meet for us. This is the last dual meet of the season so it should be interesting to say the least.
“We have two championship meets during the winter season, the varsity GBL meet and the junior varsity GBL meet,” continued Irish. “I’m expecting the few kids who are really close to going to the varsity meet to have good performances against Medford in an effort to solidify their spot.”
Everett girls and boys compete at State Coaches Meet
A large contingent of Everett High boys and girls competed in Saturday’s State Coaches Relay Meet that was held at the Reggie Lewis Center.
“The kids really enjoy going to this meet, which gave us opportunity to see which relays have the best chances of qualifying for the divisional state meet on Feb. 19th,” said EHS head coach Shelanda Irish. “We ran a few ‘B’ relay teams as well and their performances were a good indicator for me to determine which athletes I will move up to the varsity for the GBL Meet on Feb. 11.”
The 4 x 800 relay team for the girls was comprised of Bebhinn Kernan, Zoulikha Madkour, Sheryl Steeves and Faith Pinho. On the boys’ side, it was the foursome of Carlos Duran, Trevor Freeman, Christian Dominguez, and Ricardo Perez.
The four girls in the distance medley relay were Jessica Mangan, Katelyn Steeves, Faith Pinho, and Maeve Kernan. For the boys, they were Heiu Vo-Tran, Carlos Duran, Luis Franco, and Ricky Perez
Katie Steeves, Catianis Valenquela, Sharyn Gladstone, and Kathy Pham ran the 50 yard dash relay for the girls, with Edwasner Ambroise, Kenny Phan, Steven Garrity, and Henry Maldonado competing in that race for the boys.
The Lady Crimson Tide shotput relay consisted of the trio of Zoulikha Madkour, Ariana Ross, and Sharyn Gladstone. The boys were Daniel Plunkett, Kenny Phan, and Brandon Conde.
Running for the boys’ 4 x 200 “A” relay were Soufiane Fdal, Bryan Cedeno, Jonathan Mendez, and Andres Tejada, with a 4 x 200 “B” relay team of Jason Hansen, Lucas Tejada, Jose Portillo, and Henry Maldonado
The boys 4 x 400 quartet were Soufiane Fdal, Bryan Cedeno, Jonathan Mendez, and Andres Tejada. The “B” foursome in the 4 x 400 were Jason Hansen, Wibienly Joseph, Lucas Tejada, and Jose Portillo.