By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Riverside ran its win streak to seven in a row Friday night with a decisive victory over Patterson, 52-30, in non-district action.

The key for the Rebels was a fast start — Riverside outscored the Lumberjacks (9-16) 19-6 in the first quarter and 35-10 in the first half to all but put things away early. 

“I thought we ran our press offense exceptionally,” said Riverside coach Kathy Luke. “We came out with a lot of energy. We’ve struggled in the first quarter all season, but that’s been a focus recently. I thought we really played well and it was a total team effort.

Jakeyra Gautreaux put up a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for Riverside (16-11). Channan Simmons had a big all-around game, scoring 10 points to go along with seven steals, seven rebounds, six assists and a block. Jaimaya Bolden scored nine, Toni Hebert and Kennedy White each scored eight and Monet Moses added six. 

Luke said that a highlight to her was the play of Moses, who showed flashes of strong play in the post.

“I was really excited about that,” said Luke. “She made two post moves that I thought were really good. One of those she’d been working on for a long time and now got to use it in a game … We’ve been doing a lot of work on post play.”

The Rebels return to district action Wednesday with a road matchup with Science Academy. 

Then, Friday, RA will travel to face St. Mary’s Academy.