EHS Roundup
EHS hockey team posts two victories
The Everett High hockey team broke into the victory column in smashing fashion, winning two of its three games this past week.
The Crimson Tide skated to a pair of shutout victories of 10-0 over Durfee High and 7-0 over East Boston.
“We finally started to see some of the things we’ve been working on in practice begin to pay off,” said EHS head coach Erick Kainen, who cited a host of his players, including goalies Brendan Calderon and D.J. Schovanec, captain Jason Cardinale, Brian Gianelli, Jason Suppa, Bryan Delorey, Ryan Colman, Nick Snook, Kaleigh Snook, and Brendan Currie, for their fine performances in the twin wins.
“We stepped up our game,” noted Kainen. “We were committed to our back checking and to playing as a team. When we put forth that kind of effort, it really shows in the final result.”
Kainen said that another plus of the big victories was that many of his younger players got to see some ice time. “It was nice to give the young guys some playing time,” said Kainen. “They’ve been working hard all year and they deserved to play some meaningful minutes.”
Kainen and his crew will seek to continue their winning ways starting this evening (Wednesday) when they will host North Quincy for a 7:00 p.m. face-off at Allied Veterans Rink. The Crimson Tide will play at East Boston on Saturday and then will host the Mulloy Tournament over the vacation week.
Everett will face Essex Tech at 7:00 p.m. on Monday and then meet either Somerville or Northeast Regional on Wednesday. The Tide will wrap up their season at Durfee next Thursday.
Souffrance is the king of the NEC
Everett star track man Harchdy Souffrance turned in the best individual performance of all competitors at Sunday’s Northeastern Conference Meet, scoring 20 points and leading the Crimson Tide to a fourth-place finish among the 16 NEC schools.
Harchdy took second place in the 55 meter dash with a time of 6.65 seconds, which was .09 behind the winner, Elijah Jeffreys of Somerville.
The duo met again in the long jump, but this time it was Souffrance who reigned supreme, capturing first place with a leap of 20′-11″, which was nine inches further than his closest competitor. Jeffreys meanwhile, took sixth place in the long-jump event.
The pair got together one more time as members of their schools’ 200 meter relay squads. The Somerville quartet took first place in 1:30.89, with Everett in second in 1:34.40. The Crimson Tide foursome consisted of Souffrance, Clarence Jules, Widman Laterion, and Mac Shillingford.
Jules scored two points for the Everett cause with a fifth place performance in the 55 dash in a clocking of 6.78. Laterion added a point in his individual event, the 300 dash, with a sixth place finish in 38.08.
Aidan Salih also enjoyed a fine meet, taking fourth place, which was good for four points, in the 1,000 dash in 2:47.28.
For the girls’ side, the 4 x 200 quartet of Nathalie Douyon, Jessica Santos, Victoria Chapman, and Cyara Lambert earned fifth place ribbons with their combined clocking of 1:55.49.
Santos came the closest of the Everett girls to medaling in an individual event with her seventh-place performance in the 55 dash with a time of 8.00, which was just 0.11 from a medal position.
EHS girls basketball makes it nine in a row
The Everett High girls basketball team reeled off three victories this week, extending their winning streak to nine games, which certainly is a modern-day record, and probably an all-time record, for the EHS girls basketball program.
Last Tuesday the Lady Crimson Tide dispatched Marblehead, 61-37. Everett took control from the outset, jumping out to a 15-6 advantage at the first buzzer and extending the margin to 13, 30-17, at the half.
Yasmeen Guerrier topped the EHS scoring chart with 25 points. Jackie Emmanuel and Carolann Cardinale both reached double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively, followed by Ashley Fitzgerald with five, Kiana Wilkerson with four, and the trio of Maddy Duraes, Vicki Mercado, and Lexi Bartolomeo with two points apiece.
Everett’s next victory proved a bit more dramatic, as the Lady Crimson Tide earned a 60-54 triumph over Peabody in overtime. Heroes in the game were numerous for Everett. Emmanuel drained a three-pointer with just over a minute left in regulation that tied the score and then, after Peabody sank a hoop on its next possession, Guerrier hit a bucket that deadlocked matters at 50-50 to send the game into OT.
Duraes then took over in the extra session, sinking a trey, a deuce, and two free throws to account for seven of Everett’s 10 points in OT.
Emmanuel hit for 19 points, followed by Guerrier with 18, Duraes with 15, Cardinale with four, Kloe Cardillo with two, and Saunti Benton with two.
The Lady Crimson Tide then made it a trifecta for the week with a triumph over Lynn English last Friday evening on the EHS court. The contest was a close affair, 33-29, at the half, but EHS head coach Tammy Turner changed up her defense after the intermission from full-court man-to-man to a match-up zone.
“English was having success driving to the basket and drawing fouls,” said Turner. “So we made the adjustment and it paid off.”
Everett opened up a nine point bulge, 49-40, after three quarters and then hit the accelerator over the final eight minutes to cruise to a 67-47 victory.
Leading scorers for Everett were Emmanuel, who struck for 20 points, followed by Guerrier with 17, Wilkerson with 12, and Duraes with nine.
Turner and her crew, who are in third place in the 16-team Northeastern Conference, were scheduled to travel to Somerville last night (Tuesday) and will host Lynn Classical tomorrow (Thursday) evening. They will trek to Methuen next Tuesday and to Haverhill next Thursday.
Likely, Boyce power Everett to decisive win over English
By Cary Shuman
The Everett High boys basketball team prevailed in a showdown of the top teams in the Northeastern Conference, routing Lynn English, 72-45, Friday night at the Paul Cavanagh Fieldhouse in Lynn.
Senior guard Ghared Boyce led all scorers with 24 points. Senior forward Isaiah Likely, who did much of the floor generalship in the game, had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
For Likely, the big win over English was the middle portion of a sensational sports week. The 6-foot-5-inch wide receiver signed his national letter of intent to attend Coastal Carolina during a ceremony at the high school Wednesday.
On Sunday, Likely joined his football teammates in celebrating the Crimson Tide’s Division 1 Super Bowl championship at an awards banquet at Anthony’s in Malden.
Likely showed poise against English’s fullcourt pressure and also drove the lane well. He punctuated his performance with a crowd-pleasing dunk.
“Isaiah played an all-around game,” said DiBiaso. “He passed the ball. He had assists and double-digit rebounds. He’s just a great all-around player. That football and basketball coach is very lucky to have him in two sports.”
Likely understood the game’s NEC title implications versus English (15-2). Everett (16-1) can win the NEC title in its first season in the conference with one more victory.
“I thought we played really well as team,” said Likely. “Coach [DiBiaso] said this was one of our toughest tests of the season and we were really excited about the game. We did what we had to do. We still have some tough games ahead. We want to get a high seed in the [Division 1] North and then take care of business in the playoffs.”
“Isaiah is the best athlete in the state,” said basketball and football teammate Jake Willcox.
Boyce was superb despite facing double and triple teaming efforts by the English defense. He hit a succession of long-range jumpers and free throws, drove past defenders, and exhibited the multitude of talents that have made him the most prolific scorer in the history of the Everett boys basketball program.
“It was a statement win for us,” said Boyce. “We worked so hard preparing for Lynn English. We knew coming in that they were a good team. We were well prepared by the coaches and came away with a big win. Our hard work and dedication paid off. We’re going to take this one game at a time.”
Coach John DiBiaso felt Boyce was a dual threat in the game with his scoring and playmaking.
“I thought Ghared did a great job facilitating other players because they were doubling and tripling him off the screens,” said DiBiaso. “He got his teammates involved and he hit his shots.”
DiBiaso felt his defense set the tone.
“Our defense played well and Isaiah and Ghared moved the ball around well and that led to some easy baskets,” said DiBiaso. “We wanted to play good, solid defense, and keep them off the boards and we did that. We’re getting better at the defensive end at the right time. This is a tough place to play. It’s a great environment for high school basketball.”
Jaylen Smith was very effective in the paint for the Crimson Tide, keeping English’s forwards away from the basket and second-chance opportunities. Caleb Jacobs, Nate Mehu, and Eric Thompson also made key contributions to the victory.