By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

Riverside scored a victory in its final game of the season on Friday night, topping Lusher, 47-43, in a District 10-2A game at Lusher.

The Rebels (9-23, 6-6) secured a .500 finish in district play with the victory, a significant upgrade from recent seasons.

“It’s big for the program,” said Riverside coach Ben Wilson. “It’s the first time we’ve been even in the last four or five seasons. I think at the end of the season the guys saw that we’re good enough to play with anyone, so now it’s about learning what it takes how to close out wins.”

Josh Tassin led Riverside with 16 points. Kane Keller scored 12, and Bobby Smith added 11.

Gilbert McGregor scored a game-high 25 to lead Lusher.

Lusher (6-23, 2-9) jumped on Riverside early by scoring the game’s first seven points, but the Rebels had quite a response. Riverside scored the next 26 points of the game, and took a 29-16 lead into the second half.

“We did a great job communicating defensively,” said Wilson. “We got a lot of tipped balls and steals, and limited them to one shot.”

Lusher trailed by 12 entering the fourth quarter, but McGregor began to heat up, hitting quick 3-pointers and scoring in the lane.

“He started to come alive, and it put the game in reach for them.”

But despite a rash of late turnovers, the Rebels made sure their mistakes wouldn’t cost them a season-ending victory, making their foul shots and keeping Lusher at bay.

It was the last game that leading scorers Tassin, Smith and Keller would all play together – Keller and Tassin are returning next season, but Smith will graduate later this year.

“It’s been fun coaching the three of them together,” said Wilson. “All of them can handle the ball and shoot the ball and play at a fast pace. We’re a small team, led by our guards, so we needed them to play well and carry the scoring load to have a chance.

“I think they were disappointed to see the season end. They were starting to really get on the same page with one another in the last few games.”