By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

WESTWEGO — For a quarter of play, Riverside Academy had the nation’s No. 1 recruit, Montverde Academy’s Ben Simmons, right where it wanted him: scoreless.

That didn’t last.

Simmons erupted in the second half of Saturday night’s Allstate Sugar Bowl Prep Basketball Classic’s championship game, scoring 30 of his season-high 39 points on an array of post-ups, 3-point jumpers and rim-shaking dunks to lead the Eagles to a 93-75 victory over Riverside.

Montverde (Fla.) moved to 19-1 with the win, and is the consensus top-ranked prep basketball team in the nation.

“We’re not into moral victories, but I was proud of the way our guys fought,” Riverside coach Timmy Byrd said. “They’re where they are for a reason.

 “They were hitting shots from the outside that they didn’t hit (Friday). They spread us out and that was the difference. We had to go man once we fell behind, and to their credit they established Ben in the post when we changed our defense.”

Simmons, a 6’9”, 250 lb. senior forward, is an LSU signee. He was named the Sugar Bowl tournament’s  Most Valuable Player after Saturday’s victory.

Von Julien scored 21 points to lead Riverside. Malik Crowfield scored 17 points (all coming in the first half) and Herb McGee scored 15 (all coming in the second half). Jordan Andrews returned to action after a Monday night injury scare, scoring 12.

Marquez Lechter-Ellis scored 18 for Montverde. Marcel Ponitka added 16.

It was a state championship-game type of atmosphere, with a large crowd packed into the main court area of the Alario Center to see Simmons, Montverde and the Rebels in action.

Riverside got their fans involved early, challenging the bigger Eagles via a spread-it-out drive-and-kick game. Crowfield hit his team’s  first 3-pointer, then Julien and Crowfield each scored in the lane. Julien then drew a roar from the crowd when he stole the ball from Simmons and laid the ball in at the other end to make it a 14-9 Riverside lead.

After a timeout, Montverde climbed back on top 19-17 after a Ponitka basket ignited a 10-3 run to end the first quarter.

That’s when the Simmons show began. He opened the second quarter with a dunk, then canned a 3 from the wing to make it 26-18. A 3 by Blake Harris pushed the lead to 11. Simmons added a floater and a tip-in dunk before the first half was through.

“We tried to double him, but he’s a great scorer,” Crowfield said.

Crowfield began to heat up for a Rebels response, scoring three RA buckets in a row — all from the 3-point arc — to help RA pull within five at the half, 38-33.

But the Rebels suffered a serious blow when Crowfield picked up his fourth foul with 6:54 left in the third quarter. Then moments later, RA starting center Joe Anderson picked up foul No. 4 as well; Byrd was relegated to making offense-defense substitutions to keep the duo involved for the majority of play thereafter.

“It definitely took me off my game,” Crowfield said.

“You tend to tighten up on the bench. It was tough.”

Said Byrd, “It killed us. It took our aggressiveness away, and you can’t beat that team if you can’t be aggressive.”

Simmons got rolling again: he scored consecutive baskets on lob passes inside, then threw down back-to-back dunks to put Montverde up nine. The Rebels stayed in it via the long ball: Julien, McGee and Andrews all buried long balls in the third, Andrews making a pair.

But just before the third quarter’s final buzzer, Simmons lofted a shot from halfcourt that found the bottom of the net, making it 66-57 entering the fourth.

Riverside fought back, an Andrews 3 making it a seven-point game midway through the fourth. But the offensive well dried up for the Rebels thereafter, and Simmons and Lechter-Ellis carried the Eagles the rest of the way on a barrage of inside baskets.

The two teams could face off again soon. Riverside will travel to the Montverde Academy Invitational Jan. 29-31 and the two teams may cross paths if the bracket allows.

“We may change things up,” Byrd said. “Against a team like that, you can try to beat them two ways. You can run and hit a minimum of 15 3s, or you can take the air out the ball. We chose to play the way we’re accustomed to tonight. Next time, we may change things and slow it down. We’ll see.”