Riverside rematch with Lakeview set in today’s 2A championship

Published 11:45 pm Friday, March 13, 2015

By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAKE CHARLES — For the second consecutive year, Class 2A will see its championship decided by its top two seeds in the final game of the season. And for the second straight year, those teams will be No. 1 Riverside and No. 2 Lakeview, who will face off at 4 p.m. today at Lake Charles’ Burton Coliseum.

The Rebels (30-6) bested a game North Caddo squad in the semifinals — just as they did last season — 79-71, while Lakeview (27-5) captured a 73-54 victory over Episcopal.

In last season’s game between the two teams, Malik Crowfield was the hero for Riverside in a 88-75 victory.  His game-high 35-point effort was highlighted by a 22-point first half effort. Von Julien scored 13 points and dished nine assists, while Andrews scored 13 and notched a team-high four steals for RA. For Lakeview, Tay Hardy led the way, scoring a team-high 15 points. Jerald Bush and Tray Kirkendoll each scored 13, and Cameron Pottain scored 12.

Lakeview (27-5) has not lost in its past 16 games, its last loss coming to Class 1A semifinalist Arcadia. Riverside has won 13 games in a row and has yet to lose to an in-state competitor.

Hardy was explosive in Lakeview’s win over Episcopal, scoring a game-high 29 points. The Gators scored the first 20 points of the game. He hit six of 10 3-point attempts.

Lakeview plays at a slower, more deliberate pace than it did last season, with first-year head coach Brian Williams now at the helm. The Gators boast size inside, where they should have the advantage on the smaller Rebels.

But few teams, if any, spread the court as effectively as Riverside. Last season, RA closed the game out with five shooters on the floor, including an attacking ballhandler. Trailing, the Gators had to abandon their zone defense against the Rebels, and it had no answers man-to-man.

Riverside coach Timmy Byrd expects to see a heavy dose of the zone again.

“I don’t think they can guard us man-to-man,” Byrd said. “They played completely man-to-man against Episcopal, but if they do that with us I think that’s to our advantage. They’ve got size on us, but we have the advantage in our guard play.”

Byrd said this season’s Lakeview team is similar to the one his team saw a year ago in a game Byrd deemed a “heavyweight fight” in its aftermath.  Gone this year is then-senior Tray Kirkendoll, which changes the Lakeview dynamic, with Hardy playing a more dominant role.

“He gave them a major outside threat,” Byrd said of Kirkendoll. “Our biggest concern this year is controlling the rebounding battle.”

That hasn’t often been an issue for the Rebels despite being one of the smaller contenders in state, but it came up against North Caddo.

“We got beat on the boards (in the semifinal game),” Byrd said. “If we don’t let them beat us in that regard, we’ll win this game. But we can’t allow what happened (Thursday) to happen again.”