By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

After a pair of tough district losses last week, Riverside quickly bounced back by gathering a pair of victories this week to even its district record out.

Riverside celebrated senior night at home on Thursday by staving off a late Fisher surge to take a 59-53 win.

Meanwhile, the Rebels picked up a 53-49 win over Carver on Tuesday to break their two game losing streak.

“We’re back at .500 in district. It’s a step in the right direction,” said Riverside coach Ben Wilson. “We’ve played some pretty good basketball in district. We just wish we’d played like this from the start.”

RA’s Kane Keller scored 19 points against Fisher, while teammate Bobby Smith added 18.

The Rebels (8-22, 5-5) led 34-21 at halftime and by as many as 19 in the second half.

But Fisher (8-12, 2-8) got hot from the 3-point arc, hitting five shots from that range. Fisher scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, and cut the Riverside lead to four with a minute left.

“They’re a streaky team,” said Wilson of Fisher. “When they’re hot, they’re hot. They spread the floor and went small on us, worked it around, and made their shots.”

But Riverside was able to hold the lead.

Wilson said that the Rebels shared the ball as well as he’d seen all season long.

“Everyone made the extra pass. If someone was open, they found someone who was even more open,” he said. “We did one of the best jobs we’ve done all year in sharing the ball.”

Wilson said the Carver (2-8 in district) win was hardly a thing of beauty, but that a win by any fashion is still a win.

“It was ugly, but we’ll take them how we get them,” he said.

Smith led Riverside (7-22, 4-5) with 14 points. Keller added 13.

Carver led at halftime, but once Riverside took a second half lead, it never relinquished it.

Smith and Keller each absorbed injuries in the game that left them hindered at times. But when they weren’t scoring, others stepped up. Wilson noted the play of Alex Bonnette, who scored seven second half points and grabbed nine rebounds. He also praised Justin Newbauer, who hit two foul shots in the final minute of play to extend a two point Rebel lead to four, the final margin of victory.

With two games left, the Rebels would like to finish above .500 in 10-2A, but Wilson says he and his team aren’t dwelling on it.

“We not worrying about our record or anything like that. We’re just concentrating on our next opponent, and that’s St. James in a big one on Tuesday,” Wilson said.

Riverside will face St. James at St. James at 6 p.m. Tuesday night. Its final game will come Friday night against Lusher in Reserve. Both are district games.ꆱ