By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — St. Thomas More coach Danny Broussard didn’t mince words while describing his impressions of the young core of players boasted by Riverside, which upended his Cougars 71-66 Friday night.

“Those guys,” he said, “are going to be unbeatable down the line.”

A veteran St. Thomas More team entered the game as Class 4A’s top-ranked team in power points. But a barrage of Riverside 3-pointers — the Rebels hit 13, all within the first three quarters — netted RA a lead that grew as high as 14 in the second half.

“As young as they are and as talented as they are … they make it hard on you,” said Broussard. “They’ve got so many shooters. Many teams have that one guy or maybe two, but they’ve got multiple guys that can hurt you.”

Malik Crowfield and Herb McGee each scored 21 points and combined to hit seven of the Rebels’ 13 threes. Von Julien scored nine and Jordan Andrews added eight for the Rebels.

It was only the fourth game of the season for Riverside, which boasts a rotation comprised mostly of freshman and sophomores. Riverside also played Friday’s game without the services of 6-foot-8 inch starting center Khalea Turner, who was held out with a toe injury.

“This group has a chance to be really special on offense,” said Riverside coach Timmy Byrd.

The Rebels (3-1) made what proved to be the game-deciding push in the third quarter, starting with a deep Herb McGee 3-pointer that made it 36-31.

Ryan Randle answered at the other end with a 3 from the wing to pull STM (8-2) within two. McGee stayed hot, attacking the basket for his next score, then registering a steal that led to a Julien transition layup that made it 40-37.

Charlie Padgett kept pace for the Cougars by sinking two free throws. McGee popped another three off a feed from Crowfield, then Padgett worked the offensive glass for a putback.

But STM couldn’t keep pace with the Rebels’ firepower. Julien nailed a three, then Curtis Thomas rang up another to make it 49-40 within the blink of an eye. McGee blocked a shot, then Deuce Wallace canned a 3 to make it 52-40.

Crowfield converted a pretty up-and-under move to score in the lane, then scored again on a drive to make it 56-42 at the end of the third quarter.

“It’s real fun when we get rolling like that,” said Crowfield. “Get into the lane then pass it out, get it to our shooters. Everything clicked.”

Added McGee, “When it’s going like that and you know that everyone on the court can score, it’s just a wonderful thing.”

But the Cougars wouldn’t go quietly, throwing a major scare into the Rebels in the fourth thanks to a relentless press. Timmy Perrilloux, Crowfield and McGee scored early buckets off of the broken press, but St. Thomas More quickly cut into the RA lead. Trailing by 11, Randle and Orynn Veillon each sank two free throws before Matt Roberts sank a 3 to make it 62-58. Riverside missed the front end of a pair of one-and-one’s and with 1:28 left, STM took advantage of an offensive rebound, finding Veillon for a 3 to make it 62-61.

Wallace drew a foul at the other end and sank two at the line. Trey Touchet missed a jumper at the other end, then Thomas found Wallace for an open layup to make it 66-61.

“We just needed to slow it down on offense,” said Crowfield.

St. Thomas More closed to within three on a circus 3-pointer from the corner by Randle with 16.9 seconds left, but Riverside closed things out at the line, McGee and Julien going 4-for-4 down the stretch.

“I was proud of my guys for continuing to fight,” said Broussard.

Riverside started the game red-hot, jumping out to an 11-0 lead on 3’s by Andrews, Crowfield and McGee and another Andrews jumper just inside the line.

“We came out flat in the last game (against Scotlandville) and we weren’t going to let it happen again,” said McGee. “We wanted to jump out to an early lead.”

Byrd praised the play of Perrilloux, who stepped into the frontcourt void left by Turner’s absence. He also credited the Rebels’ defensive intensity and ability to adjust; after a first quarter that saw St. Thomas More score on a bevy of backdoor cuts and open 3’s, Riverside tightened up on that front and made the Cougars work for their points in different ways.

“I thought defensively, our guys really answered the challenge,” said Byrd. “We knew we couldn’t play zone very much with the shooters they had … It’s good to play St. Thomas More because it’s important for our young group to learn how to a guard a team like this.”

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