Milestone not in Morgan Jenkins’ thoughts

Morgan Jenkins reaches 1000-point mark as Lady Pats improve to 8-0

Morgan Jenkins reached the 1000 career point plateau and the Revere High girls basketball team remained undefeated with a pair of victories this past week.

Jenkins came into last Tuesday’s game with Peabody at the Merullo Fieldhouse 12 points shy of the 1000 point level. It took her slightly over a quarter of play to crack the 1000 point mark and the large crowd, which featured a lot of support from the entire community who turned out for the momentous event, went delirious when the ball swished through the basket.

Jenkins and her teammates then got down to the other business at hand, taking care of a pesky Peabody team that matched Revere point for point in the first period, which ended in a 20-20 deadlock.

However, the Lady Pats upped their intensity on the defensive end, which in turn created transition opportunities. The Revere “D” held the visiting Lady Tanners to just four points in the second frame and walked off at the half with a nice 36-24 advantage.

“I think the entire team may have been a bit nervous at the start of the game because of the big crowd and Morgan’s situation,” said RHS head coach Diana DeCristoforo. “But once Morgan got her 1000th, we settled down and began to play our kind of game.

“We pride ourselves on our defense because we feel that it is our defense that says the most about this team,” continued the coach. “When we successfully put pressure on the other team, our offense flows from that.”

The Lady Pats picked up where they left off after the intermission and continued to build their lead, increasing it to 20 points, 55-35, by the third buzzer. The 76-39 finale was proof positive of the hard work on defense by the Revere girls, as they limited Peabody to fewer points (19) in the final three periods than Peabody had scored in the first period alone.

Jenkins was immense with a 20-point, 21-rebound effort. Marissa Parent hit for 18 points and Gena Restiano reached double figures with 15. Ashley DiFraia chipped in with five and Caitlyn Caramello, Melissa Adreani, Michaela Maguire, and Amy Rotger accounted for four point each. Cassandra Zullo also added two points.

Friday night’s encounter with Gloucester proved to be Revere’s toughest test of the season. The Lady Fishermen handed Revere one of its few losses last year and once again are among the top teams in the Northeastern Conference.

After Revere grabbed a 21-15 lead in the first quarter, Gloucester fought back to knot matters at 32-32 at the half. However, the Lady Patriots came out strong in the third stanza and eventually began to pull away. A 47-40 advantage after three quarters turned into a 62-51 victory.

Jenkins once again was at the top of the score sheet with 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Restiano also tingled the twine for 20 points and dished out 10 assists. Parent and DiFraia hit for eight points apiece with Rotger adding four and Adreani two.

“Ashley (DiFraia) and Melissa (Adreani) really stepped up for us in the rebounding department,” said DeCristoforo, who noted that her team pulled down a season high 55 boards on the night. “This was a big win for us, not only because it was nice to get back at Gloucester from last year, but because we showed that we can meet the challenge when we are in a close game with a good team.”

With the victory over Peabody, the Lady Pats are 5-0 against their opponents from the NEC’s Large School Division. The Gloucester contest marked the first game against the six NEC Small School rivals. DeCristoforo and her crew, who sport an 8-0 record overall, traveled to Saugus last night (Tuesday) and will journey tonight to former GBL foe Medford in a non league tilt. They will return home Friday to host Marblehead.