Riverside advances to state championship game
Published 11:29 pm Saturday, March 2, 2013
By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur
HAMMOND – Riverside’s Von Julien provided the game-winning layup with 5.4 seconds remaining in overtime Saturday, propelling the Rebels to a 64-62 victory over University and into the Class 2A championship game next week.
Riverside (26-5) will face St. Thomas Aquinas (27-5), which rallied late to defeat Winnfield Saturday. Riverside will be playing in its fourth consecutive state championship game and gunning to claim its third state championship over that span.
The game went to overtime after University’s Wayde Sims dunked in a putback of a Skylar Mays miss as time expired in regulation. The Cubs erased a late 3-point Riverside lead after forcing three Rebel turnovers in the final two minutes.
But with the game tied at 62 in overtime, Riverside held for a late shot and Julien took the ball to the basket, converting a contested layup with 5.4 remaining on the clock.
“Coach said that we needed to take some time off the clock and keep (University) moving on defense,” said Julien. “He didn’t specify who was supposed to take, because he felt like any of us who had the ball in that spot could make a play. I had it with about 10 seconds left and thought I had a good matchup.
“They didn’t help down, so I couldn’t kick it out, and I was able to get the floater.
Julien sealed things for good when he stole a long University inbounds pass.
Julien finished with 15 points and seven assists. Malik Crowfield scored 14 while Jordan Andrews and Cory Costanza each scored 12.
Sims scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for University. Jalen Johnson added 15 points and nine rebounds. The two Cub big men combined to shoot 14 for 21.
The game was a rematch from a Jan. 11 game at University that saw RA beat the Cubs (28-3) decisively, 72-44.
Byrd said that he was proud of his players for “finding a way to win,” but said that he felt his team had a major emotional letdown after its quarterfinal win Tuesday against rival John Curtis.
“I’m very thankful that we won, because we shouldn’t have won it,” said Byrd. “This matchup made me nervous from the start … We didn’t play with the same intensity (as Tuesday). Hat’s off to University, they came out with a great plan and their kids gave us everything we could handle.
“In a way, we’ve been spoiled, because these kids execute so well on a regular basis. You can’t expect them to be a machine, but they’ve played like one over the last month-plus. I’m proud of these kids and this team, but I’m not proud of how we played tonight.”
In the first game, RA outrebounded University. But this time, University’s height advantage came into play, as the Cubs won the battle of the boards 36-24 and notched 16 offensive rebounds.
But Riverside continued its hot perimeter shooting, making nine three pointers to University’s three.