By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE – The basketball rivalry between Reserve Christian and East St. John may be gone in name, but not in spirit.

Sure there are a few new faces among the former Eagles. But when Riverside and East St. John tip off at 7 p.m. on Thursday night, plenty will look familiar to the players on the court, the coaches on the sidelines, and most of all, the fans in attendance.

When coach Timmy Byrd and his former Reserve Christian players jumped to Riverside after the closing of RCS, they brought with them the tradition of a home-and-home against the Wildcats.

Thursday night marks the first time this version of the rivalry will tip off at the Rebels’ gym. If previous matchups between Byrd’s teams and the Wildcats are any indication, the atmosphere should be strong.

“It’s a big rivalry game,” Byrd says. “There should be a lot of people out there.”

Each team boasts one of the deepest rosters in the state. East St. John routinely plays 12 players or more, playing an in-your-face style pressure defense and preying on the mistakes of opposing teams to amp up the transition game.

“They’re quick, and they put a lot of pressure on you,” Byrd says. “We can’t let them dictate the tempo and force us into mistakes.”

Riverside is stacked with contributors as well – in a game the starters rested, its second team went to Houston this past weekend and knocked off host St. Pius. A number of players off the Rebel bench can play like stars at any given time – that includes sophomore Donald Thomas, who scored 17 in the win over the weekend, as well as seniors Kane Keller and Josh Tassin, the leading scorers on last season’s Rebel team.

Among starters, Riverside boasts a major matchup problem for most in 6-7 center Ricardo Gathers.

“I’m not sure they’ll have an answer for Rico,” said Byrd.

The Rebel guards, Cedric Jenkins and Kyle McClue, were also pointed to by Byrd as being keys in this matchup.

“They really dictate how we’re gonna play. They set the tempo for us,” said Byrd.

“Kyle in particular…we know what we’re gonna get from Cedric and Rico. But when we get strong games from Kyle and Ed Gallina, we’re very tough to beat.”

East St. John, meanwhile, has gotten strong play in the early season from Kaylon Placide, who has especially emerged as a go-to player in recent games, and Patrick Gales, who has given the team strong play on the interior.

ESJ is off to a quick start this season under coach Yussef Jasmine, who guided the team to the first district title in school history last season.

“East St. John always has talent, and I think Yussef’s doing a really good job with them,” said Byrd. “They buy into what he wants to do, and the longer he’s there, the more they’ll buy in.

“Coming off that district championship, those guys are playing with a lot of confidence.”