Boys basketball stays undefeated; fine finishes at GBL track meet

By Mike Stoller

In its first Greater Boston League game of the campaign, the Somerville High hockey team escaped with a 3-2 victory over host Everett last week, improving its overall record to 3-2-2.

“A win is a win,” Somerville coach Chuck Allen said. “But we need to play the whole 45 minutes from the drop of the puck. “

“We do have good leadership, though,” the coach added, praising senior co-captains Joe Desmond and Kyle Higgins and senior assistant leaders Matt Vogel and Troy Martini.

Senior winger C.J. Albanese scored twice for the Highlanders, while Vogel also tallied. Dan Camara had two assists. In goal, Sergey Markorov made 14 stops.

Somerville trailed, 1-0, after the first period, but rallied for three goals in the second stanza.  Albanese got the Highlanders on the board. Then, Vogel scored on the power play, before Albanese struck again.

The Highlanders visit archrival Cambridge Rindge and Latin tonight.

“It’s always a rivalry,” Allen said of the league matchup.  “We have to keep our emotions in check.”

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Rallying from an 11-point deficit after the first quarter, the Somerville High boys’ basketball team posted a stunning 80-62 win over host Arlington last week to improve its record to 6-0.

In a fast-paced second quarter, the Highlanders found their groove and took a 41-37 lead, though a 6-0 run by the Spy Ponders had Arlington on top, 43-41, at the break.

“They had a real good first quarter,” Somerville head coach Mark Antonelli said of the Spy Ponders, who were led by David Shin’s 16 points in the opening frame.

“He was on fire,” Antonelli said of Shin. “We really had to regroup defensively. The game was a lot closer than the score would make it seem.”

The Highlanders allowed just 19 points in the second half, and their offense stayed in gear.

For the game, John Lubin tossed in a whopping 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Gustavo DeMoura had 18 points and 10 boards. Roubins Guerrier and Jonathan Santana each had 12 points.

Santana, a junior, had a huge night, also hauling in 15 rebounds.

“He’s sort of an unheralded starter,” Antonelli said. “He was unbelievable on the glass tonight. It was his best offensive game of the season.”

The rousing victory followed a pair of impressive wins for the Highlanders in a holiday tournament, in which Somerville won the championship with victories over Wayland and host Ashland.

Four players scored in double figures for the Highlanders in the first-round win against Wayland, and even more impressive: “We had 12 three-point field goals in the game,” Antonelli said.

Guerrier had four of those trifectas and totaled 20 points for the game, while DeMoura had three three-pointers and 17 points overall.

The Highlanders disbursed the ball well, as Lubin (12 points), Rayoni Matos (11), Richard Guerrier (9), and James Odivin (6) also figured in the scoring.

Somerville won the tourney with a 53-47 win over Ashland.

The Highlanders were scheduled to play their first Greater Boston League tilt at Malden yesterday.

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First place finishes by Saragrace Magre and Delmi Hernandez were the highlights for the Somerville girls’ indoor track and field team at the Greater Boston League freshmen and sophomore meet last week.

Magre won the 300 meter race in a time of 42.9 seconds, while Hernandez took the 1000 meter, crossing in 3 minutes, 15 seconds.

“We had some very impressive performances from our youngsters in this meet,” Somerville head coach Charlie O’Rourke said. Saragrace roared to the finish line, passing two girls in the last few yards to win in an impressive time. Delmi also outkicked another runner to win an equally impressive performance.”

There were several other notable efforts by Highlanders. Catherine Nakato took fourth in the 300 meter. Anjila Shresta finished sixth in the 600 meter; Maureen McNabb and Mranda Rego took second and fifth place, respectively, in the mile. Melissa Sanon finished fifth in the high jump.  Lissa Sanon took third in the shot put. The mile relay team of Nakato, McNabb, Magre, and Hernandez finished in second place.

“Our young runners are improving and we will need them during the season,” O’Rourke said.