LAFAYETTE, La. - Sophomore Ricardo Gathers finished with 23 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks as No. 1-seeded Riverside Academy defeated No. 15 Jonesboro-Hodge with an 84-61 win in the Class 2A state championship game Saturday night.
Senior Cedric Jenkins added 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Rebels (35-6). Gathers was awarded Class 2A state title game Most Valuable Player honors. It was the second straight title game MVP for Gathers, who led Reserve Christian to a 108-79 win over Athens in the Class C finals last year.
Officially, it was Riverside Academy's first boys basketball state championship in school history. Unofficially, it was the fifth straight state title for the five starters and top three reserves, who all transferred from Reserve Christian this past offseason. They won four straight Class C state titles before their school was closed.
The Tigers (26-10), the lowest seed to make the state finals in any class, were led by senior center Thomas Williams with 22 points and nine rebounds. LaQuinten Calahan was Jonesboro-Hodge's only other double-figure scorer with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Louis Dabney added 13 points and six boards for Riverside, while Ed Gallina chipped in with 11 points and three rebounds.
The Tigers proved ready to battle the heavily favored Rebels for one quarter, leading 6-3 early on and only down 17-10 after the opening period.
But Riverside would get 3-pointers from Jenkins and Franklin Francois to push the lead to 25-12 with 6:06 left until intermission. Riverside would build as much as a 19-point lead at 39-20, but the Tigers wouldn't die.
Calahan's 3-pointer was followed by a pair of tip-ins by Williams to stay within shouting distance at 41-29 at the half.
Again, the Rebels rolled up another 19-point lead, and again Jonesboro-Hodge refused to throw up the white flag. A six-point run by Williams and a T.J. Scott spin move in the lane helped cut the lead to 58-46 with 47 seconds left in the third period.
Riverside refused to let the Tigers get any closer, though, starting out the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run for a 70-48 lead, highlighted by a Gathers 3-pointer. The Tigers wouldn't get within a shot of single digits again in the game.
The Rebels finished the game shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 76.7 at the free throw line. Riverside, though, only made five of 18 tries from 3-point land.
The Tigers shot 42.4 percent from the field, 56.3 percent at the foul line, and made two of 14 from 3-point land.
