By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

Defending champion Riverside entered as the heavy favorite in Class 2A again under Coach Timmy Byrd, who has practically made Lafayette a second home over the last decade in taking his teams to the season-ending Top 28 Tournament.

He and the Rebels are set to return there officially after downing host Jonesboro-Hodge, 72-65, Friday night in the quarterfinal round of the state tournament.

Top-seeded Riverside will face fifth-seeded Episcopal in the state semifinals Friday at 1 p.m. Episcopal has defeated its last two foes, Rosepine and Pickering, by three points each.

It’s the second appearance in the Top 28 in Riverside school history.

“I think it’s really good for the school,” said Riverside head coach Timmy Byrd. “Our kids, I think, expected to be there. And we’re excited to be there. I know our school is excited about going back.”

The Rebels won a game that featured a rematch of the two teams that played for the Class 2A title a year ago, a game Riverside won 84-61.

This one, played in the Tigers’ gym, saw a much closer score. But the Rebels never lost control, leading by as many as 20 in the second half.

Jonesboro-Hodge came out fired up and played Riverside to a stalemate in the first quarter. The Rebels forged ahead 37-31 at halftime. The third quarter saw the Rebels create their separation, and they did it with defense, holding the tigers to just 10 points while scoring 22 of their own.

Ricardo Gathers led Riverside with 23 points. Donald Thomas, Zelvyn Smith and Lucas Martin-Julien each scored 10.

“It was a packed house,” said Byrd. “(Jonesboro-Hodge) had the crowd into it. They did a good job of making some shots and they played very hard. Once we went to a halfcourt trap, a 1-3-1, they started to have problems and we got out to a 20-point lead.”

In the state semifinal, Riverside must find a way to limit the production of Brian Bridgewater, one of the nation’s top ranked sophomore players. A 6-foot-5 small forward weighing 230 pounds, Bridgewater has led his team to an overall record of 28-6. It has won 10 of its last 11 games.

“They’ve got a good team,” said Byrd. “It’ll be tough. A good starting five, the top-ranked sophomore in the nation … we’ll be prepared. We need to be.”

If the Rebels win, they would be faced with the somewhat odd prospect of returning to action just a day later as the 2A championship game is scheduled to be contested on Saturday night at 6 p.m.

“It’s baffling to me. I’ve never seen that before,” said Byrd.

But by the same token, he admits it could work to his team’s advantage.

“I think it probably does because of our depth,” said Byrd. “We play plenty of kids so fatigue shouldn’t be the kind of factor it would be if we had a short bench.”

No. 7 seed Ville Platte and No. 10 seed Evangel are set to face off in the other semifinal game.