The Riverside High School boys basketball team used a strong second half Friday night to pull away and defeat visiting Leland High School 55-35.
The win was the third victory in a row for the Bulldogs (14-8, 4-2 in Region 3-2A) from Avon and Riverside now has some much strong momentum heading into the final four games of the season.
Junior guard Otis Williams led the Bulldogs with 14 points. Freshman center Jordan Wilson scored 12 points. BJ Amos had eight points and five assists, and Aaron Stewart scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds.
The Bulldogs led the Cubs by just five points at halftime, 28-23, and then asserted their will in the second half.
“We had a great third quarter,” Riverside Coach Sam Monroe said. “We started to play better on defense and we started to make shots.
“What I really like about my team is that we can win in multiple ways. We had to be physical against Leland and we were able to match their physicality.”
Coach Monroe had high praise for Otis Williams, who was the leading Riverside scorer in the game.
“Otis does everything for us,” Coach Monroe said. “He has really worked on his jump shot and he is now a consistent free throw shooter. He also handles the ball for us and leads us in assists.”
Coach Monroe added he believes his Bulldogs can make a run when the postseason starts in two weeks.
“This team loves working hard, and they realize that we haven’t really accomplished much.
The Leland Cubs are led this season by first-year coach Jeremy Gilbert. Three years ago Coach Gilbert led Leflore County all the way to the Big House in the MHSAA Class 2A state playoffs.
One of the top Leland players this season has been junior Ladarius Wilson, who leads the Cubs in scoring this season. Along with his scoring, Wilson also helps place his teammates in the right positions on the court.
Jameel Muhammad and Jeremy Felston, meanwhile, are the only two seniors on this year’s Leland team.
Coach Gilbert grew up in Itta Bena and graduated from Leflore County High School. At Leflore County, Coach Gilbert was a member of the Tiger basketball team. Although he was not a star player, his coach, Lester Smith, recognized that he had a strong understanding of the game of basketball.
“Coach Smith told me that I will be doing his job one day because I saw the game as a coach. I saw things before they happen. I didn’t believe him at the time, but he turned out to be correct.”
Coach Gilbert spent seven seasons coaching the LeFlore County junior varsity boys basketball team before coaching the varsity squad for three seasons.
