RUMSON - There may be players who pass through the Barnegat boys basketball program who score more points than senior guard Mike Revello does, but no one will ever take from Revello his standing as the Bengals' first player to reach one of the most notable of individual accomplishments.

Friday against Fort Hamilton of Brooklyn at the Bulldawg Holiday Classic at Rumson-Fair Haven High School, Revello became the first Barnegat boys basketball player to reach the 1,000-point plateau for his career as part of a 68-44 Bengals win.

"It's amazing getting it done," Revello said. "It's a goal I had in mind when I go to Barnegat. I couldn't have done it without the people around me who helped me along the way - my parents, coach (Mike) Puorro, the whole team. I'm just super excited and happy I got it done. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season."

Barnegat senior Mike Revello celebrates his 1,000 career point with his parents and coach Mike Puorro (left). (Photo by Matt Manley)
Barnegat senior Mike Revello celebrates his 1,000 career point with his parents and coach Mike Puorro (left). (Photo by Matt Manley)
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"When you see it from the very beginning to where it is now, it's humbling," said fourth-year Barnegat coach Mike Puorro, who scored 1,169 points during his career at Point Pleasant Boro and has coached Revello since he came in as a freshman four seasons ago. "It puts a smile on my face at the end of the day knowing that it couldn't have happened to a better kid. He takes great pride in the work he puts in and he's a team-first guy. There are selfish one thousand points and there are unselfish one thousand points. His thousand are unselfish."

Revello racked up 16 points and eight assists Friday before exiting the game late in the third quarter with Barnegat leading by more than 30 points. He entered the game seven points shy of 1,000 and wasted little time in getting the celebration out of the way.

Revello hit a pair of free throws and a three-pointer to get his night started and with 5:30 left in the first quarter, he took a pass from classmate Carson Francisco in transition and glided all the way to the rim for the milestone-clinching basket.

Rumson-Fair Haven's varsity team cheered him on from the stands during the pursuit and the teams halted the game to allow Revello's family onto the court and for Puorro to present his senior captain with a plaque commemorating the accomplishment.

Revello's record-setting basket stretched Barnegat's lead to 12-0 to open the game and the Bengals (2-3) would not take their foot off the gas until late in the third. The lead grew as large as 33, 52-19. Before leaving, Revello hit 4-of-7 three-point attempts.

"We've sort of been in a shooting slump," Revello said. "It was good to get rid of that. It was awesome. Everybody knocked down shots. I got (one thousand) out of the way, but better that we all knocked down shots."

Although Revello entered the season only 52 points away from 1,000, his pursuit faced a scare when he suffered a hamstring injury early in the second game of the season against Lakewood. He played only sparingly against Donovan Catholic in the next game, but was back near 100 percent in a loss to St. Peter's Prep on Wednesday. Revello scored 13 points in the loss.

"When it first happened, it was scary because some of the adjectives he used to describe it weren't very comforting," Puorro said. "We tried  to get him back in the game against Lakewood but after about two minutes, he couldn't go. He sat on the bench the whole game and that's a little bit uncharacteristic of him, so you knew when that happened, it was a little bit scarier. Thank God it wasn't worse than it was because he deserved this moment and we need him on the court."

Francisco finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists, while senior Alex Grogan connected  on three three-pointers to finish with nine. Friday was also a career night for another Revello - Mike's younger brother Brendan scored a career-high 10 points off the bench for the Bengals.

A four-year starter for Barnegat, Revello led the Bengals to a school record 18 wins as a junior in 2016-17, which included a run to the NJSIAA South Jersey Group II semifinals. He averaged better than 14 points per game during his junior year and leads a group of five returning starters that would like to take a relatively young program even higher this year.

"I'm glad I set the precedent," Revello said. "It's good to know that kids coming in can look at that and hopefully break that.

"Historically, Barnegat hasn't been a basketball school and something like this helps move things forward in that direction. Since coach Puorro got here, it's only been up from here and this sets a personal goal for the guys coming in."

 

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