Balance helps Revere girls hoop defeat English

REVERE – Anyone who thought the Revere High girls basketball team was Morgan Jenkins and an anonymous cast of supporting characters better change their opinion, fast.Revere destroyed defending Northeastern Conference champion Lynn English, 63-42, Friday night, at the Ronald Merullo Field House. Blanketed by English’s zone, Jenkins had a quiet night by her high standards with 12 points.The Patriots (2-0) were instead led by the outside shooting of emerging sophomore guard Gena Restiano with 18 points, while forward Caitlyn Caramello added 16. Revere also got steady and sometimes spectacular play from Marisa Parent, a whippet of a point guard who bothered the Bulldogs (1-2) with her quick hands on defense and slashing moves to the hoop that set up her teammates for easy baskets.English was led by Diedre Newsome and LaShaunda Hogan with eight points apiece.”We knew coming into the season Revere was the class of the conference,” English coach Fred Hogan said. “The good thing was we found a couple of freshman players, but our seniors just had a tough night. Give Revere all the credit, but we knew this was going to be an up-and-down year.”Indeed, English doesn’t have Jenecia Duggins to bail them out anymore. Freshman Diandra Woumn may be that player someday, but right now it’s looking kind of grim for the Bulldogs, who Revere had the audacity to press full court.”We’re as quick as they are and as tough as they are,” Revere coach Diana DeCristoforo said. “We think putting pressure (on the other teasm) gets us off to a quick start. We always say our first offense is our defense.”Revere led at all the checkpoints and blew the game open when Restiano – looking extraordinarily confident with her jump shot – buried a couple of 3-pointers to spark a 12-0 run early in the third quarter to give the Patriots a 39-20 lead.English’s last gasp came in a sequence when Jenkins picked up her third foul, followed by back to back buckets from Miranda Hogan and Newsome, but Revere closed out the third period with an 8-0 spurt, capped by Amy Rotger’s buzzer-beating 17-footer off the glass from the left elbow.The lead eventually peaked at 60-30 with 4:18 left in the game, before English finished on a 12-3 run.”If people are going to pack it in (on Jenkins), there are still going to be shots,” DeCristoforo said. “Sometimes it’s difficult to get teenage girls into the concept of playing as a team, but these girls get it, and it’s great to see.”Restiano canned a 3-pointer and then a 15-footer over the zone to help give the Patriots an early 7-0 lead. Three-pointers by LaShaunda Hogan and Newsome kept the Bulldogs close, but Restiano opened the second period with another trey, and a 3-point play by Jenkins gave Revere a 22-13 lead with 4:04 left in the first half. Another three by Newsome got English’s deficit back to six, but that’s as close as the Bulldogs got as Caramello stuck a 15-footer from the left wing and Ashley DiFraia made a free throw to give Revere a 27-18 lead at halftime.”Like I said, there were some bright spots with our younger players, but they just ran us out of the gym tonight,” coach Hogan said.