MICHAEL KIRAL

ByRESERVE – Riverside picked a perfect time to have a history-making night. Playing in front of a packed house at “Pack the Gym Night,” the Rebels got a key District 9-2A win with a 58-57 victory over West St. John Friday night. It was Riverside’s first ever victory over West St. John and it moved the Rebels into sole possession of third place in district. Riverside improved to 12-8 overall and 3-1 in district play. West St. John fell to 1-2 in district and 8-6 overall. “I can’t describe it,” Riverside head coach John White said of the win. “We played the game we wanted to play. Rebound, rebound, rebound and hope they are cold. We played smart defense and had great offense at the end. I knew we had a real good chance going in because we have been playing really well the last three games.” Damian Melancon led Riverside with 15 points. Scottey Manson with 14 and Craig Tearney with 11 also broke into double figures for the Rebels. Riverside had to overcome a 31-point performance by Dwayne Bastain. Kermit Bethancourt had nine points while Brian Wright and Devin Herbert had six apiece. West St. John had taken a 52-50 lead on two free throws by Wright with 3:25 remaining. Riverside tied the game two possessions later as Manson hit a jumper from the right baseline. Melancon then grabbed a steal, passed to Michael Schoen, got the ball back and was fouled driving in. Melancon hit both shots, giving the Rebels a 54-52 lead with 2:34 left. Tearney drove inside to increase the lead to four with 1:09 left. A free throw by Herbert and a put back by Bastain on the ensuing possession made it 56-55 with 44 seconds remaining. Tearney hit the second of two free throws to make it 58-56 with 25 seconds left. On the Rams’ next possession, Bastain took a bounce pass from Herbert and was fouled inside. After Bastain’s first shot rimmed out, the second one went through, cutting the deficit to 58-57 with 12 seconds left. The Rebels ran the clock down before Jack Harris was fouled with four seconds remaining. Harris missed both shots with Lionel Howard grabbing the rebound for the Rams. Howard got the ball to Herbert who dribbled across midcourt and launched a shot from the left side. “Two years ago, they beat us on a last-second shot from the same spot,” White said. “I said, Lord, don’t let it happen again.'” It didn’t. Herbert’s shot hit the top of the backboard as time expired, sending the Rebels’ bench out onto the court. “This keeps us in the playoff race,” White said. “God it felt good.” Riverside appeared to be in good shape after taking a 45-37 lead into the fourth quarter. But Bethancourt knocked down a jumper and followed with a 3-pointer from the left side to make it 48-45 with 5:05 remaining. Two possessions later, Wright grabbed a rebound to keep the possession alive and kicked the ball out to Bethancourt. Bethancourt drained the 3-pointer from the left side, tying the game at 48 with 4:03 left. A drive by Bastain off a pass from Bethancourt gave the Rams a 50-49 lead. Manson came back to tie the game at 50 with a free throw with 3:27 remaining. Riverside took a 28-21 lead into the break and made it 35-25 with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter on a layup by Melancon and a 3-pointer from the left wing by Schoen. Bastain brought the Rams back with a dunk off a steal and a drive off another Rebels turnover. Bastain then hit a jumper in the lane to make it 36-33. Tearney answered with two free throws, then launched in a 3-pointer from the left corner to build the lead back to seven. Two free throws by Shawn Klibert made it 45-37 heading into the fourth quarter. Riverside jumped out to an early 5-2 lead with 4:12 left in the first quarter behind a 3-pointer by Schoen and a jumper by Manson. West St. John regained the lead at 6-5 as Herbert sliced through the lane. The lead continued to seesaw with Riverside going ahead by three on two free throws by Klibert. Tearney then bounced a pass to Travis Billings driving along the right baseline to make it 14-9 at the end of the first quarter. Bastain scored inside off a pass from Randy Hilaire to make it 16-13 early in the second quarter. Riverside came back with a pass from Melancon to Manson and a 3-pointer by Tearney to make it 21-15 with less than four minutes to play. Bastain tapped in a rebound, then hit a jumper in the lane to make it a 23-19 game. Tearney responded with a 3-pointer from the left wing, then passed to Manson on the right baseline to build the lead to nine with 1:42 left. The score would stay the same until Wright hit a jumper from the left corner in the final seconds, cutting the deficit to 28-21 at the half. Riverside, which played host to Newman last night, travels to Ridgewood Friday. West St. John hosts Buras Friday.