REVERE — The Revere girls basketball team took an early lead and held onto it for the entire game in a 42-34 win over Triton in a non-conference matchup at Roland Merullo Field House night. The Patriots had three players in double figures on offense and put forth a solid effort defensively in the win.
“On the whole, we had a pretty good game but we did it in spurts,” said Revere coach Matt Willis. “We have to make sure that we don’t let offensive struggles affect our play on the defensive end. We’ve just got to keep our defensive effort consistent all game no matter what happens on the offensive end.”
Revere was led by freshman guard Carolina Carvalho-Bettero, who finished the game with 16 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward Emily DiGiulio was right behind, notching a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Erika Cheever contributed 10 points and five rebounds, while junior guard Chloe Giordano had four points and five rebounds.
“Erika gets a lot of the attention most nights, and we have to find ways to attack the spots that are left open when teams do that,” Willis said. “Emily did a good job of going hard to the basket and fighting on the boards all night, and Carolina just used her abilities as a pure athlete to make plays on both ends. It was great to see.”
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair, with the two teams exchanging baskets in the first few minutes. Both teams also played well on the defensive end but Revere was able to make a couple of extra plays and finished the first quarter with a 12-11 lead.
The Patriots started having a bit more success on offense in the second quarter after deciding to take a few less outside shots and opting to drive the ball to the basket. Carvalho-Bettero and DiGiulio had most of the success getting to the basket, and Cheever netted points on a few layups as well. The intensity picked up on the defensive end as well, as Revere only gave up five points in the quarter and took a 24-16 lead into halftime.
The third quarter was an up and down one for Revere. After Cheever opened up the quarter with a 3-pointer, the Patriots went into a slump on the offensive end to allow the Vikings to get back into the game. But, after the Vikings cut the deficit to just five points near the end of the quarter, the Revere offense came alive again to take a double-digit lead, 36-23, into the fourth quarter.
Willis noted that his team’s defensive effort in the second and third quarters is what put the Patriots in a position to win.
“When we dig in, we can be a very good defensive team,” said Willis. “We’re able to put good pressure on the ball at each position, and as long as we rebound well we can fuel our offense. We were able to do a lot of that tonight.”
Triton battled back again to get the score to within six points late in the fourth quarter, but the Patriots were able to hit a number of free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Now at 6-6 with eight games to go, Revere’s eyeing a berth in the state tournament. Next up will be another tough test in Northeastern Conference opponent English on Wednesday (7).
“Every game is important in this stretch coming up,” Willis said. “We know English is a very good team and we know we can’t dig ourselves in too deep of a hole in terms of losses, so we’ll have to have a good day of practice tomorrow to get ready for the quick turnaround.”
