By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — After a disappointing start to its tournament on Friday night, Riverside rebounded with a pair of victories on Saturday to conclude a successful weekend.

The Rebels defeated De La Salle 56-49, then returned to the floor later that day to take down Ascension Catholic 52-44.

RA fell to Lutcher one night earlier to begin play in the round robin tournament.

“The wins were big,” said Riverside coach Chuck Dorvin. “It’s a confidence builder. Maybe we can get something started here.”

Daysha Blount followed up a 27 point effort against Lutcher with a 20 point outing to lead the Rebels over De La Salle. Jermani Thompson added 13.

Riverside (9-5) put the Cavaliers in an early hole, going ahead 14-6 in the first quarter and leading 26-14 at halftime.

But De La Salle clawed back into the game with a 20 point third quarter, cutting the Rebel lead to five.

“We got sloppy in the second half,” Dorvin said. “There were a lot of fouls. We struggled from the line.”

But Riverside kept putting the pressure on, and wouldn’t let the Cavaliers close the gap completely.

“We calmed it down,” said Dorvin. “It was a matter of keeping our composure. We did that and hit some buckets when we needed to. We also played all out, and when you play that hard, you can overcome some mistakes.”

He was more impressed with his team’s win over Ascension Catholic, a game that tipped off 90 minutes after the conclusion of the De La Salle contest.

The Bulldogs led 12-5 after a quarter, but Riverside rallied to tie the game at 22 going into halftime before pulling away in the second half.

“I thought that win was bigger,” Dorvin said. “We were completely wiped out after playing earlier. I thought we might have turned the corner in that game. We showed heart and a refuse to lose attitude.”

He said that his team began to warm up from the perimeter after the first quarter, allowing Riverside to close the gap.

“We hit some outside shots,” he said. “We also created some turnovers and got some easy layups in transition.”

Blount and Kristy Milioto each scored 14 points in the Rebel win.

Riverside will see De La Salle again on Friday night in a rematch at De La Salle.