Leesburg, Va. — Led by a versatile front court and athletic guards, the Riverside High School boys basketball team has placed an emphasis on rebounding and defense all season long. Starting forwards Jaden Frazier, Cameron Koscinski, and Jamie Ntiamoah combined for 17 rebounds—almost as many as the entire Briar Woods team—while the Rams forced 13 turnovers in their 71-62 win over the Falcons in a Potomac District quarterfinal on February 14 in Leesburg.
“We get the ball, they get the ball, and we kind of alternate unless we create other opportunities. You can do that with the press or on the offensive glass,” Riverside head coach Mike Koscinski said. “We have a really good front court, and Jamie, Cam, and Jaden are really active on the glass. We emphasized rebounding all season, and it’s one of the things we hang our hat on.”
[adrotate banner=”53″]Through the first three quarters, the Rams allowed the Falcons just 1 offensive rebound, while they themselves secured 10 offensive and 15 defensive boards in the same time frame. Limiting Briar Woods to just one chance on each possession allowed Riverside to be a little bit more aggressive defensively, as they threw a few different defensive looks at the Rams in both the half-court and full-court press.
“Defensively, our backcourt is pretty strong and they’re athletic, which allows us to switch and do some other things with the pressure,” Coach Koscinski said. “We tried to be opportunistic and take away Briar Woods’ scoring spots.”
What makes the Riverside defense work is their ability to help, rotate, and play guys that can guard all five positions.
“Everyone was giving their all on every single play,” Riverside senior guard Tyler Carlton said. “We had a good game plan, everyone knew their role, and we executed really well.”
With the defense and rebounding intact, the Rams started to flow offensively as Frazier—who finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists—saw a few threes fall early before Koscinski got red hot in the third quarter, knocking down four triples of his own. Meanwhile, Ntiamoah continued to clean up the boards and finish around the rim to chip in 14 points and 8 rebounds.
No matter what the Falcons did, they couldn’t slow down the hot hand of Koscinski, who finished with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
“The three of them can all stretch it out and hit the three, and they can all post and score from different positions on the floor,” Coach Koscinski said. “Jamie’s been doing more off the ball and driving. When Jaden decided to start driving to the rim and being aggressive, it really opened up his outside game. Cameron just has the confidence to shoot the ball and get to the free throw line.”
Trailing by 20 heading into the fourth quarter, Briar Woods never gave in, eventually cutting the lead to single digits but before they could carve at any more of the lead, the clock had expired.
“We respect the fact that they’re going to go all the way to the buzzer; they’re never going to quit,” Coach Koscinski said. “We knew we had to match that energy throughout the entire game.”
The win earns No. 4 Riverside a rematch with No. 1 Potomac Falls in a Potomac District semifinal on February 16 in Sterling. The Panthers lead the season series 2-0, but the Rams were knocking at the door in both regular season contests.
“We just have to lock in and keep communicating,” Carlton said. “We’ll be ready.”
Derrick Jerry captured 100+ photos at the game!
Riverside Stats
| Riverside | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Cameron Koscinski | 22 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Jamie Ntiamoah | 14 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2-for-2 |
| Jaden Frazier | 11 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Tyler Carlton | 6 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-1 |
| Griffin Ullsperger | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| John Paul Dausch | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Kyle Hogan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Connor Stredrick | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Tai Schaefer | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Tyler Flynn | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Will Lind | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kyle Koyne | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Galileo Thomas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Thomas Tetsuka | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 71 | 33 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 8-for-13 |
Briar Woods Stats
| Briar Woods | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Brayden Fetterman | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Zach Ellis | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Ben Pearsall | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Javier Curry-Arregui | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4-for-4 |
| Eamon Welsh | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-1 |
| Brycen Bohmer | 7 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-3 |
| Kushagra Singhai | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-4 |
| Marty Linsky | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Blake Pettibone | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Ian Walker | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Tyler Hayworth | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Samuel Hanson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 62 | 18 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 10-for-16 |