Leesburg, Va. — As classes wrapped up for Winter Break, the Riverside and Broad Run High School boys basketball teams still had work to do. A physical, back-and-forth battle came down to the fourth quarter where key defensive stops and a 21-point fourth frame helped the Rams pick up a resilient 73-66 win on December 20 in Leesburg.
“It was a matter of who had the last run,” Riverside head coach Mike Koscinski said. “We knew that [Broad Run] was going to match our speed. We’re rebounding the ball a lot better than we were a year ago. We’re displaying all of the learning we’ve done over the last couple of years.”
Riverside junior forward Mason Ridgeway (16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists) and junior guard Max Lawson (16 points, 5 assists, 4 steals) each scored a team-high 16 points as five Rams finished in double figures. with Riverside senior guard Sep Duggal knocked down 4 three-pointers for 12 points, senior forward Joell Basue added 13 points, and senior forward Brady Peterson scored 10.
“They all have confidence in each other,” Koscinski said. “We can attack, we can move the ball really well. One of two guys can have a slump, and we can make up for that. I think the consistency will come over time.”
To keep up with the Riverside, Broad Run junior forward Ryan Brzezanski (20 points, 8 rebounds) had a junior guard Adam Perdue put up 15 points plus 5 assists, and senior guard Brayden Lee also scored 15 points and 5 assists, making 3 three-pointers to help the Spartans.
Lee opened the scoring with a three-pointer, but Peterson responded with a three of his own. Both teams answered each other’s shots to start the first quarter, but Riverside got the upper hand.
After made free throws by Lawson, Riverside senior guard Josh Ntiamoah knocked the ball out of the offense’s hands, leading to an easy layup by Ridgeway on the other end. After a missed shot by Broad Run, Basue put his head down and bodied his way inside for a layup to increase the Rams lead to 11-5.
Perdue responded with a contested layup, but Riverside’s lead held until the last minute of the quarter, when Broad Run senior forward DJ Bennett started the Spartans’ comeback after making two layups, and Lee added a layup after a defensive stop to tie the game at 15-15 at the end of the first frame.
The momentum for Broad Run carried into the second quarter. A 9-0 scoring run led by a deep three by junior guard Ben Bolle, then a Brzezanksi dunk from an off-the-backboard assist by Perdue gave the Spartans a 24-15 lead.
A made layup and a drawn foul by Brzezanski pushed the Broad Run lead to 29-20 less than halfway through the second quarter, however, Riverside wasn’t going away.
Duggal knocked down a triple, Lawson grabbed a steal and finished with a layup, before Peterson capped off the short run with a fastbreak layup to trim the deficit to 29-28.
On the next possession, Lee got a pass from Brzezanski and knocked down a three-pointer from the wing. Lawson responded with a three for the Rams, then two possessions later Duggal made a three-pointer from the corner to tie the game. Then, Basue scored on a put-back to give Riverside a 36-34 lead heading into halftime.
“Our core guys are the same from a year ago,” Koscinski said. “They’ve really learned lessons on not doing things and not being on the wrong side of things.”
Coming out of half, Riverside pushed the lead to 41-36 after a made three by Lawson, but Broad Run was not giving up. Later in the quarter, Brzezanski and Perdue both knocked down threes to put the Spartans back on top, 48-44.
“We knew that [Broad Run] could score the three ball like a fury,” Koscinski said. “That was something we were cognizant of the whole game.”
Still, Riverside fought back in the last three minutes of the third frame. A made jumper by Ridgeway, a contested layup by Ntiamoah, and a put-back by Basue tied the game at 50-50. Ridgeway pushed the ball on a fastbreak, drawing a shooting foul then making the free throws to put the Rams back on top 52-50 heading into the fourth quarter.
An uncontested layup by Lawson and two three-pointers by Ridgeway—who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter—increased the Riverside lead to 62-52. After a made second-chance layup by Brzezanski, Duggal poured in another three to bring the home crowd into a frenzy.
“At the start of the fourth quarter, I felt I was on when I made my first three,” Ridgeway said. “I was in the zone, so I kept on shooting.”
However, a Lee layup followed by a falling-away three gave Broad Run life by closing the deficit to 65-59 halfway through the last quarter.
Then, Riverside went on an 8-0 scoring run by making their free throws to give the Rams a 73-59 lead. Broad Run tried to work fast and mount a comeback but missed shots gave Riverside the 73-66 win.
“We executed in the late [minutes],” Ridgeway said. “We played really good defense, attacked the rim, and shared the ball.”
Riverside (0-0, 7-0) will head to New Jersey to play St. Augustine Prep in the John Pierantozzo Showcase on December 23. Broad Run (0-0, 8-2) gets some holiday rest before returning home against Potomac Falls on January 6.
“We were really thoughtful when it came to creating the schedule,” Koscinski said. “We wanted to travel. We wanted to play different style teams, mix up home and away.”