BY DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

Balanced scoring is never a bad thing.

In fact, it makes your team better.

Behind three players in double-figures, Riverside defeated St. Martin’s 56-44 Tuesday night.

Matt Rogers led Riverside with 17 points and Josh Labiche added 11. Freshman point guard Jarid Caesar also had 10 in the victory.

With the win, the Rebels improve to 16-8 on the season and 2-1 in district play.

Riverside wasted no time jumping out on top of St. Martin’s. The Rebels outscored St. Martin’s 15-7 in the first quarter and never looked back.

Rebels head coach Tommy Monier was happy with his team’s ability to jump out early on St. Martin’s and build on their lead.

“I thought we had an opportunity to get a lead in the first quarter and we did that,” Monier said. “It was key for us to get out on top early especially at home. We just wanted to press them, press them and press them some more.

“We have been getting a little better effort from the guys on the bench and that has been positive. It really helps us out because if you get some people in foul trouble, you can bring other people in and have confidence in them. Those fouls don’t become such a big deal anymore.”

Taking advantage of their inside presence, Monier was happy to see the big night Rogers had and the ability of the rest of the Rebels to take some of the offensive pressure off of Labiche.

“We knew we had an advantage inside and Matt in my opinion is kind of our unsung hero,” Monier said. “Because he has been really steady for us the last couple of weeks. If you can get 17 from him we know we have other people that can score points for us. We should be fine.

“St. Martin’s played really physical defense against Josh. They were really physical and made it very hard for us to get some good looks. It is nice when you can balance out the scoring a little bit.”

Concluding the first round of district play this week, Monier said his team must continue to play at their best.

“Now is the time to step up,” Monier said. “That is what we have been setting up for all year long. Every game is important from here on out. We know that we can play with anybody, but we can also go out and not play well and get beat by anybody. It’s important that we play our best every time out.”

After taking on Redeemer-Seton yesterday, the Rebels welcome Fisher to their gym Tuesday night at 6:00 and then a rematch against West St. John at home on Friday. night.