THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 Page 13 Basketball Pats win six straight, make playoffs Revere’s Lewiss Garcia Martinez wrestles for a rebound in Monday’s first-round win over Arlington Catholic at the General Patton Tournament held at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School. By Greg Phipps N ot only did the Revere High School boys basketball team reel off six consecutive victories to earn a postseason bid – the Patriots took home the General Patton Tournament title with a big 56-50 win over Marblehead on Tuesday at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School. Revere defeated Arlington Catholic, 6255, in Monday’s first round to advance to the championship contest. Monday’s win may have a little more big-picture significance in that it was Revere’s 10th victory of the season and it catapulted the Patriots into the playoffs. But the following day’s triumph and a trophy to go with it was just as sweet. “It was a great win for the kids. They’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” said head coach David Leary. “It’s 100 percent true that something just clicked in the fourth quarter of our game at Peabody [a close loss three weeks ago]. We’ve been treating every game since like it’s a state tournament game.” The Peabody contest Leary referred to was a 63-55 defeat in which the Patriots came back from a large deficit in the final quarter to nearly pull off a win. Revere, which finished the regular season at 11-9 overall, has not lost since and now waits to find out its playoff seeding and first-round opponent. The Peabody loss had dropped the Patriots to 5-9 with dire prospects to make the postseason. But Leary said his players were determined to make a run. “They knew they Patriots forward Dillon Day goes hard to the basket against Arlington Catholic. had fallen behind the eight ball, but they kept working at it and they ended up getting it done. I’m proud of them.” In the Patton tourney title game, Crisrael Lithgow exploded for 25 points and John Capozzi added 14 to lead Revere to the win over Marblehead, which had knocked off host team Hamilton-Wenham the day before. Lithgow connected on six shots from beyond the three-point line, and Capozzi was solid from the foul line, hitting on six of eight attempts from the charity stripe. Dillon Day hauled down 14 rebounds and dished out five assists. Against Arlington Catholic, Lithgow had another stellar offensive effort with 18 points while Capozzi canned 13 and Robert Raduazzo and Day each dropped in 12 to lead the scoring. The Patriots held a 34-26 advantage at halftime and never relinquished the lead in the second half despite a couple surges by Arlington. Day also finished with 10 rebounds, and Capozzi blocked four shots to aid the cause. Patriots center John Capozzi tries to chase down a loose ball in Monday’s first-round win. Revere’s Calvin Boudreau looks to drive to the basket against Arlington Catholic. (Advocate Photos by Greg Phipps)
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