Sports 01-13-2016

EHS Roundup

Lady Crimson Tide win two, now at 5-2

The Everett High girls basketball team won a pair of key contests this past week to improve to 5-2 on the season.

Last Wednesday the Lady Crimson Tide avenged a 61-49 loss on their home floor the previous week to Lynn Classical with a 51-48 triumph on the Lady Rams’ home court.

Everett was playing without the services of starting point guard and senior captain Talia Riccioli, who was sidelined because of the concussion protocol. However, sophomore Yasmeen Guerreir stepped up in a big way and poured in a career-high 23 points to pace the Lady Tide to the victory. Junior Jasmine Harding also played a key role in the victory, hitting for her career-best, 16 points. Kiana Wilkerson added four points and the trio of Nyomi Dottin, Melissa Mendez, and Paige Fialho contributed two points apiece.

After taking a 13-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Crimson Tide trailed 24-16 at the half. However, they rallied after the intermission to knot matters at 34-34 after three frames.

There were two keys to the victory for Everett in the rematch. The first was the Lady Crimson Tide’s superlative shooting from the free throw line. Guerreir was a perfect 9-for-9, Harding was a stellar 12-for-15, and Dottin was 2-for-2, both of which came with Everett trailing 47-46. Nyomi’s pair gave Everett a lead it never would relinquish. Three more foul shots by Everett in the closing minutes sealed the victory. Altogether, Everett shot an unheard-of (even by NBA standards) 23-for-26 — a success rate of 88 percent — from the charity stripe.

The Lady Crimson Tide also found a solution to a Classical player who had burned Everett for 27 points in the teams’ first meeting, holding her to just six points in the rematch.

“We knew we would have a tough challenge without Talia in the lineup, but we made some adjustments on defense and we hit our free throws,” said EHS head coach Tammy Turner.

The Lady Crimson Tide then opened their Greater Boston League schedule with a 48-36 triumph at Medford. Once again Everett trailed in the early going, 13-11 after one period and 24-21 at the half. However, Turner then directed her charges to employ a pressure, man-to-man defense to start the second half. The strategy paid immediate benefits, as the Lady Crimson Tide’s strong defensive effort yielded turnovers that led to fast-break buckets. Everett outscored Medford 13-4 in the third stanza to take a 34-28 advantage entering the final eight minutes.

The contest remained a tight affair, with Everett nursing a four-point lead with about four minutes to play. Turner called a timeout to regroup her charges. A steal by Harding on the ensuing Medford possession led to an Everett hoop for a six-point lead that the Lady Crimson never relinquished.

Dottin pumped in a career-high 20 points and Fialho reached double figures with 11. However, Paige’s biggest contribution came at the defensive end for her work in stifling Medford’s top scorer, holding her to single digits.

“Paige really did an outstanding job for us on defense,” noted Turner.

Guerreir also struck for 11 points, with Riccioli, who was cleared to play, adding four and Haley Powers chipping in two.

“Our goal is to win the Greater Boston League title and this was a first step,” noted Turner.

The Lady Crimson Tide will take on their other two GBL foes this week. They were set to meet Malden last night (Tuesday) and will host Somerville Friday evening. They will entertain Lawrence next Wednesday.

EHS hockey team defeats Somerville

It was an up-and-down week for the Everett High hockey team, as the Crimson Tide defeated Greater Boston League archrival Somerville, 8-4, but fell to another GBL foe, Medford, and non-league opponent Beverly.

In the high-scoring affair with Somerville, Marc Faia paced the Crimson Tide offensive attack with two goals and two assists. Jason Cardinale, J.J. McLaughlin, Gino DeSimone, and Louis Staffieri also lit the lamp for the Crimson Tide.

In a 6-1 defeat to Medford, Ray Suppa potted the lone Everett goal. A 4-3 loss to Beverly saw Suppa score a goal with an assist and Faia light the lamp once.

“The  team is playing well,” said EHS head coach Jason Lawrence. “We just need to find ways to win games.”

The Crimson Tide will host Salem/Essex Saturday at 1:00 at Allied Memorial Veterans Rink and will travel to Cambridge Monday afternoon.

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