MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / December 2, 2000

METAIRIE – Riverside may not be in optimum condition for basketball just yet but the Rebels had enough in their tanks to hold off rallies by St. Martin’s fora 58-48 victory in the opening round of the Crescent City Invitational Thursday evening.

Riverside (2-0) plays two games in the Invitational today, starting with the East Jefferson junior varsity at 11 a.m.Michael Schoen, one of a number of the Rebels players still playing football, led Riverside with 19 points. Tim Brignac contributed 12 points and CraigTearney 11.

St. Martin’s was led by Zach Tyson who scored a game-high 27 points. GeorgeVenturatos added nine and Dominic Hood six.

Riverside took a 41-33 lead into the fourth quarter before Tyson took a pass inside and Hood hit a jumper in the lane to cut the deficit to four with 7:05 left. Schoen answered with drives on consecutive possessions to build thelead back to 45-37.

St. Martin’s pulled to within 47-44, the closest the Saints had gotten sincethe first half, as Venturatos banked in a 3-pointer with 3:10 left. TravisBillings answered for Riverside with a layup on the next possession, starting a 11-4 run to end the game.

Two trips down the court later, David Duhe drove the lane and dropped a pass to Brignac underneath, making it 52-46 with 1:31 left. Schoen made fourfree throws in the final minute and Tearney two to seal the win.

Riverside led 34-27 at halftime and held the Saints to six points in the third quarter. Schoen scored the first points of the half and gave the Rebels a 37-27 lead with a 3-pointer from the right side with 5:47 left in the quarter.

St. Martin’s made it a six point game as Tyson drove in for a dunk off arebound and pass from Jeff Glaser. But on the Saints’ next possession,Tearney grabbed a steal, passed to Shawn Klibert and got the ball back for a layup, giving the Rebels an eight-point lead heading into the final quarter.

“Our defense played much better in the second half,” Riverside coach John White said. “What hurt us was they pressured us in the first half. They madeus turn the ball over and took it down the court. When we made them walkthe ball up, we played tremendous defense.”Riverside took an early 6-2 lead on a layup by Tearney. After St. Martin’sclosed to with 8-6 on a drive by Kerry Hicks, the Rebels went on a 7-0 run behind a 3-pointer and layup by Brignac. A drive from the right by TimmyTreas gave the Rebels a 19-12 lead after the first quarter of play.

Riverside took its biggest lead of the first half at 25-14 as Brignac grabbed a defense rebound and drove the length of the court with 6:19 left. A putback by Tyson and a jumper by Hood from the left side brought the Saints to within 30-27 with 2:18 left. But Riverside ran off the final four points of thehalf on a jumper by Schoen from the right side and free throws by Brignac and Klibert.

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