Scrappy Cats Down Indians

High school boys basketball: Riley rides intangibles and tangibles to victory over Indians

South Bend St. Joseph's Ryan Brown, right, sinks a 3-pointer over Riley's Micah Williams. (South Bend Tribune/ROBERT FRANKLIN / February 2, 2013

Some of Riley's biggest heroes Friday night had little statistically to show for it.

Junior Thadius Phillips and freshman Miquan Patton combined for no points and just one attempted shot between them in the Wildcats' 67-58 Northern Indiana Conference boys basketball victory over South Bend St. Joseph.

But coach Mark Johnson looked beyond the numbers, crediting the pair of reserves with sparking a key 8-0, third-quarter run that tied the game at 39-39 and give Riley momentum for its strong finish.

"They did an unbelievable job of giving us energy," Johnson said. "That was the one thing that I think hurt us early -- we didn't have really good energy.

"Then we hit some really good shots and, all the sudden, it was a ballgame. And if it would've been a slower pace, then we would've been in trouble."

Senior Brock Cosey provided a tangible lift for the host Wildcats (11-4, 4-2 NIC), with 19 points, as did junior Ja'mare Washington, who missed just one shot in the second half on his was to 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

Up until Riley's third-quarter rally, it was St. Joseph (7-8, 2-5) that had been the beneficiary of hot shooting.

Ryan Brown scored 17 points in the first half, sinking six shots without a miss. But the Indians lost their shooting touch in second half, missing all 12 of their shot attempts from beyond the arc. Brown went scoreless after halftime.

For Indians coach Marty Harshman, there was no clear answer for what went wrong.

"I was very happy with our shot selection in the second half," Harshman said. "We had good inside looks as well. They just didn't get down.

"There's not much I'm upset with. We didn't turn the ball over in the second half. We just couldn't get the ball to fall."

Johnson credited his team's improved defense for the Indians' second-half shooting struggles.

"(Brown) didn't have the looks in the second half, and our players did a much better job of recognizing where the shooters were," Johnson said.

After pulling even with St. Joseph midway through the third, the Wildcats never trailed by more than three and eventually pulled away in the final quarter.

Senior Torreay Harris scored eight points for Riley, while freshman Reontre' Lawrence contributed 13, and junior Micah Williams added 11.

"That's kind of how we play now," Johnson said of his team's balanced scoring. "One feeds off the other. If you see one guy has a bunch and the other guys don't have many, we're in trouble. But when you see that kind of scoring, it means we finally started kicking and playing."

ST. JOSEPH (58): Greenan Sullivan 6, Connor Edmonds 17, Mathew Monserez 18, Anthony Smiley 0, Ryan Brown 17, Keaton Wieschhaus 0, Mark Madden 0, Matt Takash 0. TOTALS: 58.

RILEY (67): Reontre' Lawrence 13, Micah Williams 11, Ja'mare Washington 16, Torreay Harris 8, Brock Cosey 19, Thadius Phillips 0, Keyshawn Winbush 0, Miquan Patton 0, Joshua Hodge, 0. TOTALS: 67.

3-point goals: St. Jospeh 6 (Brown 4, Sullivan 1, Monserez 1) Riley 10 (Cosey 4, Williams 3, Harris 2, Lawrence 1.) Total fouls: St. Joseph 15 (Smiley), Riley. JV score: St. Joseph 42, Riley 34. Records: St. Joseph 7-8, 2-5, Riley 11-4, 4-2.