Sports 12-17-2015

CHS Roundup

Boys basketball team opens with 74-34 win

The Chelsea High boys basketball team opened its season in impressive fashion with a runaway 74-34 triumph over Minuteman Regional Vocational School Tuesday evening at the CHS gymnasium.

Chelsea jumped out to a 19-6 advantage in the first frame and never looked back en route to opening up a 41-15 bulge at the half. Senior Angel Alvarez led Chelsea with 12 points, all coming on four three-pointers, of which Angel sank a trio in the opening quarter. Teammate Chris Torrez also had a hot hand in the opening frame, hitting for six of his eight points.

“Angel and Chris really got us going with their shooting,” said CHS head coach Jay Seigal of the duo, who combined for 15 of Chelsea’s first 19 points of the season in that first period.

Every member of the Red Devil squad saw action and most got onto the scoresheet. Steve Lacey reached double-figures with 11 points, Guillermo Zelata struck for nine, Ralphie Otero hit for eight, Elyas Ahdi scored seven, Balmeiro Daveiga added six, Mazsial Gratini scored four, Mohammed Ghell struck for three, Malik Bissett chipped in three, and Jaime Celorio added two. Colby Molina and Jahro Marshal did not tingle the twine, but also played well in their appearances.

“We played hard and it showed in the final result,” noted Seigal. “We had a tough pre-season schedule against strong teams such as Wakefield and Beverly and that helped prepare us for a quick start to our season.”

Seigal and his crew play at Lynn Tech Friday and host Whittier Monday.

CHS tracks teams

defeat Gr. Lawrence

Both the Chelsea High girls and boys indoor track teams opened their season in impressive fashion with victories over Commonwealth Athletic Conference rival Greater Lawrence.

The Lady Red Devils triumphed  in convincing fashion by a score of 52-25.   First-place finishers in their individual events were: Junior Melanie Nguyen in the hurdles, Senior Captain Katherine Cabral in the 300, Freshman Jocelyn Poste in the 1000, Freshman Yarid Deras in the mile, Senior Jazmine Castellon in the shot put, and a tie for first in the dash between Senior Captain Mariama Kamara and Sophomore Martine Simon.

Capping off the first-place efforts for Chelsea was the 4×400 relay team of Kamara, Simon, Poste, and Cabral.

Other scorers for the Lady Red Devil’s included Senior Captain Wendy Becerra (3rd in the 2-mile), Junior Diena Romero (2nd in the hurdles), Sophomore Awa Bajinka (2nd in the 600), Sophomore Keila DeLaCruz (3rd in the 300), Senior Cynthia Guzman (2nd in the mile), and freshman Mariseh Ceesay, who finished second in the Shot Put.

“It was a great way to start the season for this team,” said CHS head coach Mark Martineau. “Wendy Becerra had tough competition in the two-mile, an event that she typically owns.  After that race the meet opened up for us.  Greater Lawrence is coached well, we were not taking them for granted in any way.

“We have a great mix of veteran leadership and talented underclassmen,” continued Martineau. “For this team to continue to win the young athletes will have to continue to develop and the amazing group of veterans we have will have to continue to lead by example.”

The road became more challenging this week when Chelsea traveled to Greater Boston League rival Somerville last night (Wednesday) to take on a talented Lady Highlander squad.  The week ends with Chelsea’s first trip to the Reggie Lewis Center Sunday for the Winter Festival Meet.

Similar to the girls, the boys won convincingly, 51-34. Victors in their events for the Red Devils were Junior Adriel Cedano, a double-winner who won the dash and the high jump, Junior Bryan Rivas in the hurdles, Senior Alezio DeSilva in the 300 (Alezio also finished second in the high jump), Senior Captain Jose Aguair in the 600, and Senior Captain Luka Braga in the Shotput.

Other Red Devils who added points to the CHS scoresheet were Junior Nick Ieng (2nd in the dash), Senior Captain Johnny Gomez (3rd in the 2-mile), Sophomore Alex Pedrero  (3rd in the hurdles), Junior Leonardo DeAlmedia (2nd in the 300), Senior Sam Hernandez (2nd in the 1000), and Sophomore Nelson Hernandez who finished 2nd in the shotput.

Chelsea was on track to win the 4 x 400 relay, but DeAlmedia got clipped by a GL runner and fell during the race.

“This was the best way we could start our season,” said Martineau. “Greater Lawrence is always tough on the boys’ side and we did not think this was going to be easy.  This group of boys is not the biggest team we have had, but they are tough.  We will need to have solid performances from our veterans while our young guys develop.  Helping this team is the infusion of some of the Red Devil football team who bring discipline and skill.  This team will only get better and better as the year goes on.”

The boys also were scheduled to trek to Somerville yesterday (Wednesday) to meet a Highlander squad that is consistently a Division 1 track powerhouse.

“It will be a good, early-season test for our top boys to see how they stack up,” noted Martineau.

The Red Devils travel to Reggie Lewis in Boston to take part in the Winter Festival meet.

Bruins Beatby Bob Morello

Bruins with chance to move up

Despite Monday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Garden ice, Boston’s effort was considered ‘positive’ by Head Coach Claude Julien, as the Bruins put forth a might effort, unloading 49 shots on Oilers goalie Cam Talbot. Further proof came when Julien summed it up nicely following the loss with, “We’ve just got to kind of move on here and focus on the next game because we’re not disappointed with our effort (Monday).” For their performance Boston picked up a point, which is crucial at this time, when there is only a four-point differential in the Atlantic Division standings, between second and sixth place.

At press time (Wednesday) the Bruins were 6-1-3 in their last ten games, coming into their home-and-home matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The result leaves the B’s with a good chance to make a quick climb in the standings with possible victories in both games. Division-wise they could technically move up to second place, as the four points would move them up over both Detroit and Ottawa. Boston also enjoys two games-in-hand over both teams. Conference-wise their move could take them from their current seventh-place position, up to fifth. All speculation, but at this point in the season, it is an opportunity that could result in a very ‘positive’ reward.

Pittsburgh will be without their standout goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who has a reported concussion, and both Kris Letang and Beau Bennett have been placed on injured reserve. Former Bruins coach Mike Sullivan recently took over the reins as head coach, making line adjustments and a host of other changes in an attempt to get his high-powered offense back in gear. Their last ten game record of 3-4-3, presently has them missing a playoff spot, and holding down fifth place in the Metropolitan Division. Melrose, Massachusetts native Conor Sheary was called up from the Pens American Hockey League Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team. The 23-year-old forward has scored four goals in his last eight AHL games.

Tomorrow (Friday) night the Pens will host the Bruins in a 7:00pm start to complete the back-to-back schedule. The Bruins return to Garden ice on Sunday to face the New Jersey Devils (12/20) in a rare 5:00pm puck drop, followed by a visit from the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday (12/22 @ 7:00pm). Boston fans are more than likely not upset that Montreal, without All-Star Carey Price in net, have now lost five of their last six contests. The skid has allowed the Washington Capitals to step over the Habs, and take over the Eastern Conference’s top spot. This only adds to the importance of the Boston-Montreal, New Year’s day Winter Classic game.

         Add the name of Zac Rinaldo to the Bruins’ injury report, as he was placed on injured reserve Tuesday. Rinaldo (upper body injury) joins Joonas Kemppainen (undisclosed) David Pastrnak (foot) who appears to be close to returning, and Chris Kelly (leg). Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney yesterday (Wednesday) recalled Alex Khokhlachev from Providence (AHL). The Bruins forward previously recalled the 22-year-old November 3rd, appearing in two NHL games.

Recently had the pleasure of talking hockey with former Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers (shown below with your Bruins Beat author) at The Sports Museum’s – The Tradition. He has lost none of the quick wit and humor that was his trademark during his dozen Bruins years in the 1960s and ‘70s, while helping the team to Stanley Cup victories in 1970 and 1972. The Hockey Hall of Famer currently resides in Florida.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *