By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE –Given the hard-as-granite schedule his team had seen to date, the words out of Riverside coach Timmy Byrd’s mouth after his Rebels’ 69-67 victory over Lee High (Ala.) on Friday night were high praise, to say the least.

But he didn’t hesitate.

“That,” Byrd said, “was the best team we’ve played this year.”

But after Generals’ guard C.J. Robertson shot a 3 that clanged off the iron as time expired, the Rebels had come through again in another big spot – this time over the defending Class 5A Alabama state champions.

The Rebels (21-5), ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, are used to winning at this point in the season. That said, it didn’t stop any of them from celebrating with enthusiasm when the final buzzer sounded.

“I’ve gotta give (Lee) credit. They’re good,” said Rebels guard Cedric Jenkins, who scored a game-high 26 points. “They challenged us. It’s probably what we needed going into this stretch run.”

It was a see-saw battle between championship level teams that saw neither team able to shake the other for any sustained period.

Riverside appeared to be pulling away early in the fourth quarter when a returning Ed Gallina – he’d missed time with a wrist injury – scored inside to make it 57-51.

But in a flash, Lee (19-10) was back in it, converting a quick four buckets capped by a jumper by Josh Langford.

“Both teams had a chance to fold at times, and neither would,” said Byrd. “You could tell they were a 5A state champion – a championship team isn’t gonna quit, and they didn’t.”

Ricardo Gathers answered to tie the game at 59 with a turnaround jumper in the lane.

From there, both sides exchanged baskets before a key sequence – Jenkins drove to the basket and drew Langford’s fifth foul of the game. Langford finished with 14.

Jenkins missed his foul shot, but Riverside grabbed the offensive board. The ball found itself back in Jenkins’ hands, and he canned a 3-pointer to make it 66-63.

“When I came to play here, my strength was my shooting,” said Jenkins. “Coach Byrd’s helped me strengthen the other areas in my game. But when I started hitting some shots, it got me back to my comfort zone.”

Two Gathers’ free throws made it 68-64 with 1:17 left, but almost immediately Lee’s Damien Barney swished a 3 at the other end to cut the RA lead to one.

Kyle McClue drew a foul on a drive and made a free throw to push the lead to 69-67.

Lee turned to guard Lebron King to answer. But his pull up 3 missed with 15 seconds left. Riverside rebounded, but the Rebels turned the ball over while passing up the court.

“That’s where youth comes in,” said Byrd. “Instead of running it out, you’re looking for the big play.”

After calling a timeout with seven seconds left, Lee had one last chance. Barney found Robertson – who had already hit two 3’s in the second half – for an open look from the corner. But he missed and the Rebels had their second key stop in the last 15 seconds – and their 21st win of the year.

“We didn’t want to let the guards penetrate on those last few plays. That’s how they were getting their good looks,” said Jenkins. “We cut that off on their last two possessions.”

Key to the win was the play of the Rebel ballhandlers. A deep, long Lee team sent an unrelenting press at the Rebels, who at times turned it over but more often than not handled the pressure and found open lanes to score in transition.

“I thought (point guard) Kyle McClue played a really strong game,” said Byrd. “He didn’t turn it over and made the right decisions for us.”

Gathers scored 15 for Riverside. Louis Dabney added 11.

Devin Langford led Lee with 16.

Both Langfords – who are brothers – are considered high Division I recruits.