By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

RESERVE — Riverside defended their home court with tenacity last Friday night in a district double-header with St. Charles, pushing the Comets to the fourth quarter in both the girls and the boys games. But the Comets pushed right back, taking wins in both games with clutch free throw shooting and rebounding in the fourth.

The early game was a rematch for the Lady Rebels and the Lady Comets after St. Charles took the first meeting with a convincing 43-27 victory in LaPlace. But Riverside found more success this time around, both on offense and in containing the Lady Comet scorers this time, resulting in leads for Riverside in both the first and third quarters.

But with SCC going 10-of-15 from the foul line, the Lady Comets built a late edge Friday eveing. A three-pointer by Sarah Levin got the Lady Rebs back to within a possession with under ten seconds to go, but the St. Charles squad held on for the win with a 46-43 score.

Becker led SCC in the game, recording 18 points and 12 rebounds to go with six steals. Michelle Marzoni scored 13 while Mallory Pecoraro added ten.

Brittany Schoen led Riverside in the effort with 16 points.

The goys game was their first district 10-2A meeting, but their second game in about a month. Their last meeting was in the Riverside Holiday Classic championship game where the Comets came home with a 75-54 win despite a sharp-shooting Kane Keller.

But on Friday night last week, the two squads dueled their way to a 40-39 third quarter score before the Comets found a comfortable lead and maintained it through offensive rebounds and second chance points.

The difference in this one might have come early on when Comet senior Chase Fletcher was sent to the bench after a pair of technical foul calls sidelined him for the game.

&#8220I think it was something he said that was misinterpreted,” said SCC coach Jeff Montz. &#8220It happened really quick and early on, but we were able to get bck on track and keep right on with it.”

After that exhange, it was blow for blow all the way to the third quarter. David Serven kept the Rebels consistent, with seven of Riverside’s 19 points in the second quarter. But SCC’s Jonathan Bonura and Chris Costanza helped the Comets match that 19 point quarter with one of their own, sending it into the break 29-27 in favor of St. Charles.

Riverside closed in during the third quarter with three pointers by Keller and Bobbie Smith to make it a one point game going into the final period. From there, the Comet offense took over, with DeMarcus Bernard leading the charge. Bernard scored nine of his 14 points in the last eight minutes, while Bonura added six to spark SCC into a 27-13 run. St. Charles then took advantage of their height, with offensive rebounds late in the game, giving the Rebels few opportunities to close the gap.

Martin led all scorers in the game with 19 while Bernard added 14 for the Comets.

Keller led the Rebel effort with 16 while Serven posted 11 and Caesar got nine.

The boys team has a rematch set for February 9 at St. Charles. The Comets now stand at 3-1 in district play while the Rebels fall to 0-6. The Lady Rebels were also held from taking their first 10-2A win of the year, as they fall to 0-7.

The Lady Comets meanwhile look toward capturing a post-season berth with a 4-2 record.