Patriots survive against Medford in girls hoop

REVERE – The Revere girls basketball team had to survive 58.9 long seconds with a two-point lead and Medford having four timeouts to play with.The Mustangs had four chances to tie or win the game on Monday but the Revere defense swarmed and held on until Tania Holmes’ game-winning attempt clanged off the back iron as time expired in a 40-38 Patriots victory.”We talk all the time about playing good defense,” Revere coach Kaitlin Leonard said. “And we did there at the end. This was a game where everybody chipped in and contributed.”Revere (5-4) had to go most of the way without its spark plug in Gena Restiano, who injured her knee late in the first quarter and didn’t return. Restiano’s absence allowed several of the Patriots’ bench players to come in and play critical roles late in the game.”When someone goes down, everybody else has the chance to step up and we were able to gut it out,” Leonard said.Revere led for most of the first half, as it held a 16-10 lead after a quarter and a 20-14 lead midway through the second quarter. The Mustangs (6-4) then went on a run triggered by Aleah Mc’Ausland-Ace’s three-pointer.Jackie Pellecchia scored a pair of late baskets and Holmes’ putback in the final minute capped a 9-0 half-ending run and sent Medford to the locker room with a 23-20 lead.”We played really well in that second quarter,” Medford coach Leo Burke said.Medford pushed the lead to five early in the second half but couldn’t put any distance between itself and the Patriots as Revere clawed back to tie the game at 30 on Alex Ambrosino’s bucket in the final minute of the period.The teams would trade points early in the fourth before Caitlin Caramello knocked down a trifecta from deep in the left corner to cap a 12-4 run and give Revere a 38-34 lead with five minutes to go.Holmes hit two free throws to cut the lead back to two before Venous Hamza answered with a runner with three minutes left to make it a four-point bulge.It stayed a four-point game until Holmes scored on a putback with 55.3 seconds left. Medford then forced a jump ball and got the ball back with 28 seconds left and two timeouts.The Mustangs would get three looks on the next possession but couldn’t get anything to fall. Revere, however, couldn’t corral a rebound with five seconds left, giving the Mustangs a chance to win it.Harris got a good look off the inbounds play but her three came up just short as the buzzer sounded.”This is a big win for us,” Leonard said. “We were prepared for them and we adjusted really, really well as the game went on.”