Riverdale Wins Opener

By MARCUS HELTON

UPPER MARLBORO – It had all the hallmarks of a season opener – solid play marred by stretches of sloppiness – but the Riverdale Baptist School Crusaders showed in Tuesday’s home contest against Archbishop Spalding that they have all the elements necessary to be successful again.

Senior guard Keon Hill and senior forwards Milan Durant and Brandon Peel each scored 10 points to lead a balanced attack for the Crusaders, who jumped out to an early lead and never trailed in a 57-44 victory over the Cavaliers.

Still, Riverdale coach Louis Wilson said he felt his team played tight early on, pointing to several missed lay-ups as evidence.

“They were so tense and so hyped up that they missed some easy shots,” he said. “But to Spalding’s credit – they’re definitely a very, very good basketball team and they definitely play high level competition in the Baltimore Catholic League. We knew it was going to be a dogfight, and we wanted to come out here and get this victory. They beat us last year at their house, so we wanted to return the favor by taking care of business and beating them here at Riverdale.”

Spalding junior forward Earl Potts scored a game-high 15 points.

The Crusaders (1-0) won the National Christian School Athletic Association Division 1A championship in April with an 81-56 win over Team FCA from Pennsylvania. Despite that success, the Crusaders still feel like they have something to prove. Durant said he and his teammates were motivated after being left out of ESPN’s Preseason Powerade Fab 50 rankings, which feature No. 3 Oak Hill Academy, No. 4 Montrose Christian, No. 13 DeMatha Catholic, No. 19 Gonzaga and No. 45 John Carroll.

“We should be ranked, like, Top 10 this year,” Durant said. “We’re all seniors and we know how to play the game. We’ve seen the rankings on ESPN, and we’re trying to kill everybody; we’re coming.”

Wilson said this year’s group could be something special, calling it, “Championship caliber.” Riverdale returns four starters from last year in Peel – who has committed to Division I Central Connecticut State – Durant, Hill and cat-quick senior guard Olajuwon Lewis. That quartet was solid Tuesday night, which Bell and Lewis running the show on the perimeter as Peel and Durant controlled the boards. Peel grabbed 11 rebounds while Durant pulled down nine.

“I really think the X-factor tonight was [senior forward] De’Von Barnett and his explosive ability to get to the rim and finish,” Wilson said, “and then the steady guard play of [junior] Marquis Powell.”

Barnett finished with nine points, while Powell added five and hit one of his team’s two 3-pointers.

Riverdale’s depth was enough to rattle a young Spalding squad that started a freshman (forward Charles Meiklejohn) and two sophomores (guards Jourdan Grant and Kai Dalce) along with Potts and senior guard Greg Brown, who scored 11 points. Freshman forward Gary Jefferson was the sixth man.

“I think we were really focused in on our defense, and that might have caught them off guard,” Wilson said. “… I think the intimidation factor from a defensive standpoint is what got us off to such a quick start. I think it really surprised them, and it was really important for us to get off to such a quick start here at home.”

The Cavaliers (0-1) trailed by 11 points at the half, but rallied back to cut the deficit to four points on a 3-pointer by Brown with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter. That was as close as they would get, though.

“Well, they were going to fight back or we were going to practice when we got back tonight, so they were going to play hard,” Spalding coach Derrick Lewis said. “But you’ve got to play like that all the time; you can’t pick and choose when you’re going to play hard when you get down. Maybe that’s because of the young kids we’ve got. … I know we’ve got a lot of work to do and you’ve got to be happy with the way they didn’t quit, but we’ve got to play hard at the beginning of the game, and that’s all there is to it.”

ARCHBISHOP SPALDING
Earl Potts 15, Greg Brown 11, Gary Jefferson 6, Charles Meiklejohn 5, Jourdan Grant 3, Martell Massimini 2, Malik Harris 2.
RIVERDALE BAPTIST
Milan Durant 10, Keon Hill 10, Brandon Peel 10, De’Von Barnett 9, Olajuwon Lewis 7, Marquis Powell 5, Khary Doby 4, Norman Allen 1, Raeece Hunt 1.
Spalding    13   8 16 7 – 44
Riverdale   20 12 13 12 – 57
3-Point Goals— AS 2 (Brown 1, Potts 1), RB1 (Powell). Total Fouls –AS 11, RB 11. Fouled Out— None.
 

Contact DMV Elite Editor-in-Chief Marcus Helton at mhelton@dmvelite.com or on Twitter. Also, check out DMV Elite on Facebook!