By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Riverside senior center Jaimaya Bolden couldn’t hide her elation if she tried Thursday night, wearing a broad smile as she celebrated with her teammates.

Bolden’s game-high 15 points paced Riverside in a tightly contested bi-district playoff victory over visiting Sterlington, a 44-36 victory that was in doubt into the game’s final minute.

The senior scored eight of her 15 points in the final quarter of play, including the final five points of the night. 

“When you want something this badly, you end up doing things you don’t normally do,” said Bolden. “We played with more intensity tonight. This is my senior year and I didn’t want to end it with a bad loss.”

Riverside advances to the regional round for the second straight season, where it will travel to face No. 3 seed Doyle. Doyle defeated Northlake Christian 68-40 in the first round. 

Ja’Keyra Gautreaux scored 10 for Riverside. Toni Hebert scored seven, while Channan Simmons and Kennedy White each added six.

Riverside (19-13) led 25-14 at halftime, but Sterlington moved to a full court press in the second half that gave the Rebels fits, and an exciting finish resulted.

Latasha English and Keilah Williams scored on early second half possessions to make it 25-18, and a Williams score inside cut the lead to four with just under five minutes remaining. 

Gautreaux scored on a runner to stop what was a 7-0 run, but English answered to slice it back to four at 27-23. A Tameisha Gray free throw pulled Sterlington within three, then her steal and layup made it a one-point game. 

“What I was afraid of … We asked them to come out and make a statement early on,” said Riverside coach Kathy Luke. “I think we played one of the best first halves we played all season, but then we were out of gas. We’ve got a very young team and emotionally … They’re not used to maintaining that level.”

Taylor Akharume’s pull-up jumper gave the Panthers their first lead of the night, coming with 2:11 left in the third quarter. 

“We knew we had them in a bad spot (in the first half), in a place where they didn’t have a lot of hope they could win, and we gave them that hope again,” said Bolden. “We just said that we have to go take it back now.”

Hebert put Riverside back on top with a putback, then Gautreaux hit a turnaround jumper in the lane to make it a 31-28 Riverside advantage. But English nailed a wing 3-pointer to tie things up early in the fourth, and it was officially a sprint to the finish from there.

Sterlington (17-15) led 34-33 when Bolden made a big momentum play, scoring and drawing a foul on a putback to push RA back ahead. She made the free throw to make it 36-34. 

Then Simmons made a key play of her own, coming up with a steal and finding White open for a layup with 2:41 left, pushing the lead to four. 

“I know our guards were exhausted,” said Luke. “We had them chasing 14 and 31 (English and Williams) around because we knew they were scorers.’

“I thought Channan and Kennedy, especially, left everything they had on the floor tonight.”

English scored and drew a foul for an answer, but missed the free throw. The Rebels turned it over, but English’s potential tying shot fell short. White drew a foul and sank one free throw to make it 39-36, then the Rebels made a stop before Bolden did the same at the line.

Sterlington came up empty again offensively, and Bolden drew another foul to push the RA lead to 42-36 with 59.1 seconds left. The Rebels could not relax yet: Simmons, the team’s primary ballhandler, fouled out 10 seconds later and sent English to the line. 

But English missed, Riverside broke the press, and Briley Becker found Bolden flashing open in the lane for the backbreaker, a layup to put Riverside up eight. 

 English finished with 13 to lead the Panthers. 

For Luke, playoff success is nothing new after a sensational run at her previous post at Vandebilt Catholic. 

But it was her first playoff victory with the Rebels, in the midst of her first season at Riverside. 

She was pleased, but said that the next one would be sweeter.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “(Riverside)’s been to the next round before, last season. They’ve never been past that game, and that’s the hurdle we’re looking to get past on Monday night.”

L’Observateur

 

LAPLACE — Riverside senior center Jaimaya Bolden couldn’t hide her elation if she tried Thursday night, wearing a broad smile as she celebrated with her teammates.

Bolden’s game-high 15 points paced Riverside in a tightly contested bi-district playoff victory over visiting Sterlington, a 44-36 victory that was in doubt into the game’s final minute.

The senior scored eight of her 15 points in the final quarter of play, including the final five points of the night. 

“When you want something this badly, you end up doing things you don’t normally do,” said Bolden. “We played with more intensity tonight. This is my senior year and I didn’t want to end it with a bad loss.”

Riverside advances to the regional round for the second straight season, where it will travel to face No. 3 seed Doyle. Doyle defeated Northlake Christian 68-40 in the first round. 

Ja’Keyra Gautreaux scored 10 for Riverside. Toni Hebert scored seven, while Channan Simmons and Kennedy White each added six.

Riverside (19-13) led 25-14 at halftime, but Sterlington moved to a full court press in the second half that gave the Rebels fits, and an exciting finish resulted.

Latasha English and Keilah Williams scored on early second half possessions to make it 25-18, and a Williams score inside cut the lead to four with just under five minutes remaining. 

Gautreaux scored on a runner to stop what was a 7-0 run, but English answered to slice it back to four at 27-23. A Tameisha Gray free throw pulled Sterlington within three, then her steal and layup made it a one-point game. 

“What I was afraid of … We asked them to come out and make a statement early on,” said Riverside coach Kathy Luke. “I think we played one of the best first halves we played all season, but then we were out of gas. We’ve got a very young team and emotionally … They’re not used to maintaining that level.”

Taylor Akharume’s pull-up jumper gave the Panthers their first lead of the night, coming with 2:11 left in the third quarter. 

“We knew we had them in a bad spot (in the first half), in a place where they didn’t have a lot of hope they could win, and we gave them that hope again,” said Bolden. “We just said that we have to go take it back now.”

Hebert put Riverside back on top with a putback, then Gautreaux hit a turnaround jumper in the lane to make it a 31-28 Riverside advantage. But English nailed a wing 3-pointer to tie things up early in the fourth, and it was officially a sprint to the finish from there.

Sterlington (17-15) led 34-33 when Bolden made a big momentum play, scoring and drawing a foul on a putback to push RA back ahead. She made the free throw to make it 36-34. 

Then Simmons made a key play of her own, coming up with a steal and finding White open for a layup with 2:41 left, pushing the lead to four. 

“I know our guards were exhausted,” said Luke. “We had them chasing 14 and 31 (English and Williams) around because we knew they were scorers.’

“I thought Channan and Kennedy, especially, left everything they had on the floor tonight.”

English scored and drew a foul for an answer, but missed the free throw. The Rebels turned it over, but English’s potential tying shot fell short. White drew a foul and sank one free throw to make it 39-36, then the Rebels made a stop before Bolden did the same at the line.

Sterlington came up empty again offensively, and Bolden drew another foul to push the RA lead to 42-36 with 59.1 seconds left. The Rebels could not relax yet: Simmons, the team’s primary ballhandler, fouled out 10 seconds later and sent English to the line. 

But English missed, Riverside broke the press, and Briley Becker found Bolden flashing open in the lane for the backbreaker, a layup to put Riverside up eight. 

 English finished with 13 to lead the Panthers. 

For Luke, playoff success is nothing new after a sensational run at her previous post at Vandebilt Catholic. 

But it was her first playoff victory with the Rebels, in the midst of her first season at Riverside. 

She was pleased, but said that the next one would be sweeter.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “(Riverside)’s been to the next round before, last season. They’ve never been past that game, and that’s the hurdle we’re looking to get past on Monday night.”