By Chris Kinkaid
Pontchartrain Newspapers
RESERVE — Third-seeded Riverside got off to a strong start in its bid to make a Top 28 run Tuesday, besting no. 30 Pope John Paul II 77-38 in a Class 2a bi-district playoff game..
Riverside (23-5) advanced to face 14th seeded Rosepine, who edged 19th seeded Many 56-55. That game was scheduled for Friday night, after press time. The Jaguars finished with a 12-14 record.
Riverside led 24-6 after one and 46-21 by halftime.
Malik Crowfield tallied a game-high 26 points with eight rebounds and four assists for the Rebels. Jordan Andrews put up 13 points. Herb McGee finished with 10 points and seven assists, while point guard Von Julien recorded nine points to go with eight assists.
Riverside coach Timmy Byrd said he didn’t want his club to take PJP lightly because he said they are much better than a No. 30 seed.
“I knew they were well coached, their point guard (Joe Feraci) was good, their center (Sean Bruhn) was good and the other kids would play their role,” Byrd said. “I didn’t expect their kids would play as hard as they did after they got down. They stayed disciplined the whole game.”
Byrd added that he was pleased with his club.
“I wanted our guys to run their stuff a little more, but our team is based on taking advantage of mismatches,” Byrd said. “They continued to go to Crowfield and he shot over his defender most of the game.”
Joe Feraci led the Jaguars with 20 points, four rebounds and three steals. Sean Bruhn put up 14 points, while grabbing six boards and blocking a shot.
Byrd said that he was very pleased with Crowfield’s aggressiveness, noting that the freshman guard had almost become “too unselfish” at times.
“He’s been really good for us, but he wasn’t looking for his shot enough,” said Byrd. “He scored it all over the court in this one. He was active, looking for the ball. I thought he really got back on track.”
Byrd said he was pleased with his team’s intensity early on.
“we started 11-0. Our defense was playing pretty well,” he said. We wanted all of our guys to play with intensity  regardless of playing a 30th seed.”