By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE – Shorthanded and up against defending Class 2A state champion John Curtis, Riverside’s girls basketball team found itself in an early hole it couldn’t climb out of en route to a 56-21 loss at home Thursday.

The Rebels (12-10) scored only four first half points and fell behind by 32 points before finding some offense in the third quarter.

Not helping matters was that the Rebels played the first half without two starters due to disciplinary reasons.

“It was an uphill battle,” said Riverside coach Chuck Dorvin. “When you don’t follow the rules, you’re hanging the other players out to dry. People unfamiliar with their roles have to step up and play.”

Dorvin said that from what he saw, Curtis’ blend of athleticism and physicality makes the Patriots a prime threat to repeat.

“That’s a big, strong team with a little speed to them,” he said. “They’ve got the whole package to go and win state.”

The loss came two days after a close loss to Lutcher, 45-39 at Lutcher.

Essence Peterson led the Bulldogs with 14 points. Brandi Johnson scored 13 and Jarquesha Jenkins added 10.

Jermani Thompson and Jamie Boldin each scored seven for the Rebels.

The game was much closer than the first encounter between the teams at Riverside’s tournament last month, when an outside shooting barrage led Lutcher to lead by as many as 20 in the second half en route to a convincing win.

This time, the Rebels made things interesting.

“We played much better defensively,” said Dorvin. “We made a few stops, a few shots, and we hung around.”

But Dorvin was disappointed in his team’s foul shooting. The Rebels made only four of 17 from the stripe.

“I’d like to know who we can expect to beat missing layups and making 20-percent of our free throws,” said Dorvin.

“Maybe a River Parish biddy team? I don’t know. If I did, I’d schedule them. We need to fix it.”

Lutcher led 12-7 after a quarter and did not trail thereafter.