By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — After earning the first postseason top seed in the basketball program’s history, Riverside put on a show Friday night, scoring early and often in a 102-52 victory over No. 32 seed Sterlington in a Class 2A bi-district playoff game at Riverside.

Riverside was scheduled to face No. 16 Port Barre last night, after presstime. Results will be in Saturday’s edition.

Riverside’s Louis Dabney led all scorers with 24 points and had plenty of help from his teammates. Ricardo Gathers scored 20, Cedric Jenkins scored 18, and Ed Gallina added 17. Nine Rebels scored in all.

Sterlington (22-14) had no answers for the Rebels’ skill and athleticism. Riverside (31-6) led 29-9 after a quarter and led by 50 after three quarters.

Even considering the score, Riverside coach Timmy Byrd said his Rebels were a little “heavy-legged” on the court.

“We’ve been practicing extremely hard for the last two weeks,” said Byrd.

“We wanted that to be a catalyst for our guys to have to fight uphill, to get back into playoff shape.”

Riverside dominated district play, and a game against Class 1A’s top-ranked team, Country Day, was cancelled last week as it was to be played after the LHSAA season officially ended.

“It’s been over two-and-a-half weeks since we played a truly competitive game. We’ve been going extra hard in practice to try and maintain our intensity,” said Byrd.

The Rebels do seem to be rounding into peak condition at just the right time, though.

Over the last three weeks, Riverside has averaged 15 made 3-pointers a game — considering the Rebels’ interior muscle, led by the 6-foot-7 Gathers, it’s the kind of sharpshooting that might keep opposing Class 2A coaches awake at night.

“I don’t think we shot the ball very well this season on the whole, until the last three weeks,” said Byrd. “When we shoot like this, team’s can’t just pack the middle on us. It makes us a whole lot tougher.

“Traditionally, our teams play their best basketball at the end of the season. This team seems to be doing the same.”