By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

NEW ORLEANS –In a clash of favorites to take down state championship honors, St. Augustine bested Riverside Tuesday in the season opener for both teams, 63-54 at Tulane’s Fogelman Arena.

St. Augustine guard Javon Felix scored eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to help lead his Purple Knights to the win.

“Defense and rebounding, all week we focused on it,” said Felix. “We knew if we came out ahead in those areas, we’d win the game.”

St. Augustine is considered by many to be the favorite in Class 5A. Riverside, the defending state champion of Class 2A, is a heavy favorite to capture Class 2A again and entered the week ranked within the nation’s top 40 teams by ESPN.

“It’s a tough game to play right out of the box,” said Riverside coach Timmy Byrd, who said he team still needs to build some cohesiveness after replacing six seniors. “We faced a really good team tonight. But we’ll be a lot better from this game. We learned who can do what and who can’t.

“I didn’t feel we really played together, though.”

St. Augustine (1-0) led 30-22 early in the second half but Riverside quickly stormed back to tie the game on a 3 from John Lewis, a steal and layup by Lucas Martin and another 3-pointer by Louis Dabney. That quick 8-0 run made it 30-30 with 5:57 left in the third quarter.

But the Rebels (0-1) struggled to sustain offense for much of the night and would never push through to take the lead again. D.J. Hamilton put St. Augustine back ahead with a layup, and a Felix layup and Craig Victor jumper gave St. Augustine a four point lead. The Purple Knights led 40-37 at the end of three.

In the fourth, Felix began to take over. The blue chip point guard prospect immediately began attacking the rim and getting to the line, and he’d knock down four free throws to push the lead to 46-38.

“They box and one’d me the whole game,” said Felix. “But near the end of the third, I tried to take my chances.”

Riverside would march back and cut the lead to three again behind a pair of Marico Allen 3-pointers and two Zelvyn Smith free throws, making it 50-47.

But a Felix floater made it a five point game, then Kris Raphael floated another shot over the outstretched arm of Ricardo Gathers to make it 54-49.

Gathers answered back on the other end, making a put back dunk to bring Riverside within three, but Riverside would get no closer. With St. Augustine leading 57-54 and less than a minute left, Felix and Hamilton combined to make 3-of-4 from the foul line to make it 60-54. Riverside turned it over with 26.7 seconds left, and that effectively ended the threat.

“They played under control. The great point guard (Felix) is a big lift and their bigs did a real good job,” said Byrd. “I think it was a game between two really good teams. It’s a shame one had to lose.”

Riverside led 2-0 in the first quarter, but once St. Augustine took a 5-2 lead on a Hamilton 3, the Purple Knight would never trail.

St. Augustine hit five 3-pointers in the first half.

Dabney led all scorers with 19 points. Gathers scored 13.

For St. Augustine, Victor scored 15, while Hamilton and Deion Taylor each added 11.

Gathers struggled to find a rhythm most of the night as St. Augustine denied him the ball inside and pressured the Rebel guards, making entry passes difficult.

“We wanted to put as much pressure on their guards as we could to disrupt them from what they wanted to do,” said St. Augustine coach Clifford Barthe.

“Especially as far as getting it down the floor and into the low post to Gathers.”

Said Byrd: “It’s what teams are going to do to us. We’ll need to consistently hit the 3.

The Rebel defense held up its end of the bargain, keeping RA in the game even as its offense struggled to find an identity at times.

“This team has a chance to be really good,” said Byrd.

“I believe it will be. But it’ll be a bit of a process at the beginning.”