By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — Riverside held Salmen at bay for one, then two, then three quarters in Monday’s clash between championship contenders.

But the Spartans wouldn’t go away. And midway through the fourth quarter, Salmen seized its chance, holding Riverside to just one field goal in the last 4:38 of play and outscoring the Rebels 17-7 to close out an 85-75 non-district victory.

“I thought we made some decisions down the stretch that weren’t very good,” said RA coach Timmy Byrd. “We had a number of empty possessions. We didn’t do a good job of getting Rico (Gathers) the ball. Salmen finished tonight. We didn’t.”

Khari Price scored a game high 31, Eric Bell scored 18 and Charles Trotter 16 to lead Salmen.

“Our number one priority is defense,” said Price. “We stress it every day in practice. Tonight, it paid off and we got the stops we needed down the stretch.”

It was a game pitting Salmen’s perimeter firepower, led by those three guards, against Riverside’s size and brute force on the interior, personified by 6-foot-8-inch Ricardo Gathers and his dominant 29-point effort.

It was the kind of game the Rebels (24-9) rarely lose, one in which Gathers had his entire offensive repertoire on display. He finished inside, drew fouls and hit jumpers from range, a package that made the top recruit all but unguardable.

But Salmen (20-6) had an equalizer: a barrage of 3’s, 11 in total. Price and Bell combined for nine of those. The Rebels hit three on the night in contrast, Malik Crowfield canning two and John Lewis one.

“We knew that with their size, we’d have to shoot it well to have a chance to win,” said Salmen coach Jay Carlin.

Riverside led 43-38 at halftime and 63-58 at the end of the third quarter.

Salmen cut the Rebels lead to two early in the fourth quarter on a Trotter 3-pointer that rolled around the rim and in. Donald Thomas Jr. hit a free throw at the other end to push the lead to three, but Bell and Trotter scored on consecutive drives, the latter putting Salmen ahead for the first time since the opening quarter.

A Gathers jumper with 4:59 left in the game put Riverside ahead again, 66-65. Only 21 seconds later, he extended the lead to three, in the process bringing the Rebel fans to their feet, when he finished an alley oop pass from Donald Thomas with an emphatic dunk.

After a timeout, Salmen answered via Price, who drilled a 3 to tie things up. Gathers gave his team the lead one more time by hitting one of two free throws; but Bell swung the momentum for good at the other end, putting Salmen ahead on a 3 from the wing, 71-69.

The Rebels began to falter. Riverside was called for an offensive foul on its ensuing possession; Bell hit one of two free throws to make it a three point Salmen lead. Riverside turned it over again, and Trotter made the Rebels pay with a dagger from the corner, yet another 3-pointer.

With 2:20 left, Bell came up with a steal and was fouled in transition. He’d tack on another free throw to make it 76-69.

“Their guards made shots tonight and ours didn’t,” said Byrd. “The bottom line is that Salmen played better than we did in the fourth quarter. We didn’t play a very smart game down the stretch.”

Riverside missed two shots at the offensive end, representing something of a last gasp. Salmen took over with 1:59 left and killed almost a minute before Nate Williams came up with a steal leading to a Gathers bucker with 1:09 left, making it 76-71.

But the Spartans wouldn’t open the door for a comeback, making 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch.

“We’ve been in this position a few times and not come out on top. To close out a very good team on the road like this, it’s big for us,” said Carlin.

Thomas scored 13 points for Riverside. Zelvin Smith scored 11 — all in an inspired third quarter surge — and Lucas Martin-Julien scored nine.