RESERVE — With a standing-room-only crowd on hand for the renewal of the Riverside-St. Charles Catholic rivalry in basketball, the Lady Rebels seemed determined to show their male counterparts aren’t the only team with some game.

Riverside took control early and kept it on to a 55-38 victory over its rival in the first meeting of the two teams in five years. The Rebels (12-7, 1-1) jumped to a 23-9 lead in the first quarter, then outscored the Comets 15-4 in the second quarter.

Dannecia Nora led the Rebels scorers with 19 points. Ja’Keyra Gautreaux scored 18, and Chari Julien scored 13.

Lela Hill scored 21 for the Comets. She was the only St. Charles player to reach double figures.

The win broke a 3-game losing streak for the Lady Rebels.

“I thought we played well,” Riverside coach Kathy Luke said. “I thought we played within ourselves. We’ve had a couple of losses. You know, when you lose you think you’ve died and when you win you’ve been reborn. Hopefully we can keep this energy going.”

The Lady Comets opened District 12-2A play Tuesday with a 31-30 victory over Country Day. It was perhaps the most balanced offensive output for the Comets of the season. Lela Hill led with eight points, Jori Bryant scored seven, Heaven Mamou scored six and Pylar Zeringue and Caroline Julian each scored five. Bryant also came up with eight rebounds, Zeringue had six.

“The team played hard, and I can’t ask for a better effort,” Nunez said of Tuesday’s victory. “All seven players that got in the game made an impact of some sort. Even battling foul trouble we were able to get a win. I am extremely proud of them (for) starting out district play with a victory.”

Riverside Academy opened its District 12-2A schedule Tuesday with a 43-42 loss to St. Mary’s Academy. Jakeyra Gauthreaux led with 24 points, Briley Becker scored eight, Dannecia Noris scored five.

East St. John

The East St. John girls suffered their first District 7-5A loss Tuesday night, falling to Destrehan 72-42. Taylor Lipps led the scoring with 15 points, and Meah Monroe added 12.

Lipps, Cache Burell and Kynedi Poullard all hit 3-point shots in the game. Monroe also had five rebounds, as did Briana Thompson. East St. John just was no match for powerhouse Destrehan, which is ranked fifth in the state and 143rd in the country by MaxPreps.

East St. John connected on 7 of 21 shot from the free throw line.

Coach Stasha Thomas-James said her players were intimidated by the Wildcats from Destrehan.

“I think we got so caught up in who we were playing,” Thomas-James said. “We got off the bus intimidated. We didn’t bring it with us. It’s not a set-back, but it’s definitely a wake-up call.”