Labiche continues to play well, scores 19 in victory

BY DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

RESERVE-Heading into one of the biggest games in the history of the school yesterday against West St. John, the Riverside boys basketball team continues to play solid basketball. The Rebels picked up another victory on Tuesday night when they defeated Fisher 65-50.

With the win, Riverside moves to 18-8 on the season and 4-1 in district 10-2A play.

All-everything guard Josh Labiche again led the Rebels with 19 points. Matt Rogers also had a solid night with 15 points and Chris Fontenot scored 11 points.

Rebels head coach Tommy Monier was pleased with his team’s performance and effort against the winless Fisher squad.

“Fisher didn’t have a district win and they played us about as tough as you can play,” Monier said. “We didn’t play that well in the first half. We had some chances to extend the lead out that we had and we were not able to do that which was disappointing. However, we came out in the second half after a little lull in the third quarter and really played some good basketball.

“Being the better in-shape team and being the better conditioned team took over. They played us tough, but we were able to get some easy shots and forced a lot of turnovers in the second half.”

The key stat of the game was the second quarter scoring as the Rebels outscored Fisher 20-8 in the second period.

“People look at the box score and see that we outscored them 20-8 in the second quarter,” Monier said. “But it could have been a whole lot worse. We could have scored 30 in the quarter. We had a chance to really put them away and i thought that we let them back into the game before halftime and you can’t do that.

“This is a district game and you have to take advantage when opportunities are presented to you. We have to have that killer instinct. Sometimes it happens in the first quarter, sometimes it happens in the fourth quarter. You have to be able to recognize it and take advantage.”

Monier said motivating your team to continue to play well despite a big lead is a difficult challenge for any coach.

“You have just got to keep telling them to keep going,” Monier said. “They will look at you like you are crazy sometimes because of the fact that you are winning, but they don’t realize how quick it can get away from them.

“You just have to keep harping on it. I have said it all year long that we cannot be satisfied. I tell them all the time that i want to score every time that we touch the ball and I want to stop the other team every time that they have the ball. We’re starting to get that mentality.”

Monier credits the recent play of freshman point guard Jarid Ceaser as a big reason for his team’s recent run of success.

“I only feel uneasy when he doesn’t have the ball,” Monier said. “That is the few times of the game when I do feel uneasy. For being a young kid he makes really good decisions.

“He has played for us a season and a half now, so I probably expect more out of him than most people would of a freshman point guard. He definitely is a mature kid who can handle the pressure and is used to kind of having the attention focused on him. He does a great job for us.”