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METAIRIE — Riverside Academy and Crescent City Christian, two teams with a collection of championship wins, entered Friday’s quarterfinals with high hopes of forging a path to the LHSAA Division IV basketball finals.

The dream is still alive for the top-seeded Crescent City Christian Pioneers. The Pioneers collected a 78-63 win over Riverside Academy Friday night and went on to face St. Mary’s Academy in the semi-finals.

Riverside Academy was the last River Parishes team standing in the state basketball playoffs. The Rebels came into the game as the underdogs with a No. 8 ranking but managed to hang with the competition, trailing only two points behind at one point in the game.

Unforced turnovers spelled trouble for the Rebels, giving the Pioneers multiple opportunities to gain control. While the Pioneers also ran into trouble with turnovers, they outperformed Riverside Academy in rebounds and scoring.

Crescent City Christian led 16-9 by the end of the first quarter. Each team added 20 points in the second, bringing the halftime score to 36-29. The Pioneers strengthened their lead in the third, outscoring the Rebels 22-13 to make the score 58-42.

Both teams had runs in the fourth. Riverside added 21 points, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap. The game ended 78-63.

Gage Larvadain came up big with 26 points for the Rebels. Also knocking double-digit scores were Tairyn Lockhart with 12 points and De’Juan Daniel and David Reynaud with 10 points each.

Crescent City Christian had an unstoppable duo in Byron Joshua and Jordin Farrell. Both seniors scored 25 points, accounting for almost all of the Pioneer’s goals.

Daniel and Herb Keys are the only seniors on the Rebel squad, and they provided much of the offensive production early in the season. Head coach Timmy Byrd said younger team members have honed their skill over the course of the season and show great promise for the future.