By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

Riverside continues to search for its first victory after falling in a pair of tournament games at St. Martin’s this week.

The Rebels fell to host St. Martin’s, 69-35, and also Pope John Paul, 59-49.

Kristy Milioto led the way for the Rebels against St. Martin’s, scoring 15 points. Against the Jaguars, Jermani Thompson scored 13 points to lead Riverside, while Channon Simmons scored eight.

Against Pope John Paul, it was a tale of two halves. Riverside led 15-14 at the end of a quarter and trailed 31-24 at halftime, but the Jaguars outscored RA 35-18 the rest of the way.

“The difference was that in the first half, we played team basketball,” said Riverside coach Trenese Smith. “We passed it, found the open player … in the second half, everyone kind of did their own thing, trying to do too much individually. We were a little out of control at times.”

Smith said that St. Martin’s jumped out on a Rebel team that was sluggish from the start.

“When you start slow, especially against a good team, the results usually aren’t pretty,” said Smith.

Riverside stands at 0-4 so far this season. Smith said that she feels her team shows plenty of potential, but that it’s a matter of piecing things together.

“There have been bright spots in each of our four games,” said Smith. “I’m not sure they know how good they can be. We’re just trying to put everything together tight now. I think are the pieces are in place.”

Riverside will play in two more tournament games today. The Rebels will play back to back, at 8 a.m. and at 9:15.