Christ School edges Riverside in thriller

WESTWEGO – With a huge size advantage Wednesday night, Christ School was the favorite over defending champion Riverside Academy in the opening round of the Allstate Sugar Bowl National Prep Classic.

The Rebels put up a huge effort but fell just short as the Greenies prevailed 65-61 at the Alario Center.

With the game on the line, Brad Halvorsen sank four free throws in the final minute, including two with 4.1 seconds left to secure the win.

In a back-and-forth affair, Christ School jumped out to a big 7-0 lead early but Riverside stormed back to take the lead briefly before the Greenies settled for a 17-15 lead after one quarter. Gabe Wiznitzer led the way with seven points and seven rebounds while Gage Larvadain kept the Rebels right in it with 13 points and three steals.

The Rebels got eight points in the second quarter from Isaiah Bigham and built a 31-25 lead before the Greenies closed the quarter on a 5-0 run to cut the Riverside lead to 31-30 at the break. Larvadain finished the half with 15 points while Kojack Thompson led Christ School with eight points.

The Greenies went on a 7-0 run in the third quarter to establish a 47-41 lead going to the final quarter.

In the final stanza, there were five lead changes and one tie before Halvorsen settled the issue. Trey Austin put Christ School on top 59-57 with a 3-pointer with 56.1 seconds left before Kash Foley tied it with a basket with 39.5 seconds left, setting the stage for Halvorsen’s heroics.

“It was great to start a year with a win,” Christ School coach Jeff Depelteau said. “I’ll take it. I think both teams showed they were coming off of a little bit of a break. I’m really proud of our guys. We’ve been through a lot of adversity this year and they’ve stayed together. I thought we did a good job of establishing our interior early, got away from it and then got back to it. Trey Halvorsen, Kojack Thompson and Trey Austin all knocked down key free throws for us and you’ve got to knock them down in a close game.”

Austin and Thompson led Christ School (4-7) with 18 points each while Austin added seven rebounds. Halvorsen finished with 14 points. Larvadain topped the Rebels (5-11) with 22 points, six rebounds and four steals. Bigham had 13 points and Foley added 12 points.

Christ School advances to take on Madison Prep in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 4 p.m.

Final
Christ School 17 13 17 18 65
Riverside 15 16 10 20 61

Scoring
Christ School
Trey Austin 18, Kojack Thompson 18, Brad Halvorsen 14, Gabe Wiznitzer 9, Deante Green 4, Luke Stone 2

Riverside
Gage Larvadain 22, Isaiah Bigham 13, Kash Foley 12, Brian Walker 10, Dujuan Daniels 2, David Reynaud 2

Rebounds
Christ School 36, Riverside 30

Turnovers
Christ School 19, Riverside 8