Leesburg, Va. — During its first three seasons, the Riverside High School boys basketball team played in the shadows, compiling a 25-41 record. As their fourth season gets underway, however, the Rams are ready for the spotlight.
Having started the season 3-0, and coming off an overtime loss to rival Rock Ridge, the Rams were in complete control from the first whistle to the last, as they defeated the Broad Run Spartans, 64-50, in front of a home crowd in Leesburg on November 5.
“This is a tenacious group. They really just want to win for the team,” Riverside head coach Mike Koscinski said. “We’re pretty deep, so we’re just trying to get the chemistry to click in there. You see in flashes we really move the ball and find the open man.”
[adrotate banner=”19″]Riverside showed its depth in the win over Broad Run as eight different guys contributed and four different Rams scored 10 or more points.
Riverside senior forward Hunter Hair led the Rams with 13 and senior forward Brian Barrett added 12 while senior guard Brett Asbury and junior guard Beau Everett contributed 11 apiece.
“We all pass the ball great,” Riverside junior guard Simon Weeren said. “You saw that when they got out of their zone and started applying pressure. We were zipping the ball all around the court. That helps because everyone can shoot, everyone can score.”
Weeren – who scored 8 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 4 assists – is a big part of the Rams’ team chemistry. Throughout the game, Weeren put himself in the best position for the team to succeed.
“Simon is a lot of stuff that isn’t appreciated necessarily by anyone but a coach. He does a little bit of everything,” Koscinski said. “He’s always looking to make the right basketball play and not necessarily looking to score.”
Boys Basketball: Riverside pulls away in the second half to beat Broad Run. @RHS_Rams_Hoops 64, @BRHS_BHoops 50 FINAL #LoCoHoops @LoCoSports
— Owen Gotimer (@BigO_Gotimer) December 6, 2018
Weeren helped lead the Rams on a 7-0 run to open the game. The Spartans, however, wouldn’t go away as they climbed within two as the first half came to a close. Then, Riverside opened the second half on another 7-0, but again the Spartans stuck around.
Broad Run senior forward Schuyler Carman drew a lot of Riverside’s attention throughout the night allowing senior forward Patrick Smedley and junior guard Jayden Thornhill to knock down some timely shots to keep the Spartans in the game.
With less than six minutes to play in the game, the Spartans again pulled within two, but the energetic Riverside defense kept Carman off balance just long enough to regain the momentum and run away with the win.
“When Schuyler got to the paint, we just all collapsed,” Weeren said. “We just play hard, we condition hard and we just come out every night ready to go.”
Weeren and the Rams (0-0, 4-1) have the weekend off before resuming play on December 10 when they host R.E Lee in a non-district match up. The Spartans (0-0, 0-4) open Potomac District play at Briar Woods (0-0, 1-2) on December 7.
“We still need to develop our chemistry together,” Koscinski said. “We’ve been working hard, so it’s just a matter of staying together, being in the gym and getting in the work.”
Mike Ferrara captured more than 70 photos at the game…
Riverside Stats
| Riverside | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| Hunter Hair | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5-for-5 |
| Brian Barrett | 12 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Brett Asbury | 11 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3-for-6 |
| Beau Everett | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3-for-3 |
| Simon Weeren | 8 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4-for-5 |
| Hadi Khan | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Trevor Jackson | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Michael Ziller | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-4 |
| Quentin Avila | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Alex Keyser | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Ty Reichard | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Ram Totals | 64 | 28 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 18-for-25 |
Broad Run Stats
| Broad Run | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| Patrick Smedley | 13 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4-for-5 |
| Schuyler Carman | 11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3-for-4 |
| Jayden Thornhill | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3-for-4 |
| Andre Hayes | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Mason Sergi | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4-for-4 |
| Ethan Roa | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Ian Nester | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Colby Buzzelli | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Spartan Totals | 50 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 18-for-23 |
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