Riverside vs. Lake Catholic boys basketball: Beavers turn away Cougars, 55-49, in Lake County headliner
Dec. 6—The nonconference matchup between Lake County foes Lake Catholic and host Riverside on Dec. 6 had a big-game feel to it and served as an early-season test for both.
The Beavers held their own defensively and on the boards with the taller Cougars and ground out a hard-fought 55-49 victory.
Riverside didn't shoot well as a team — 28% from the field on 16 of 57 shooting — but senior Andrew Taggart did.
Taggart attacked the basket with dribble-drives, scored in transition and was a perfect 14 of 14 from the free-throw line in scoring a game-high 31 points.
The Beavers needed all of those points and the type of defensive effort that held Lake Catholic to 33% shooting (19 of 57) to prevail in their biggest test so far in a 3-0 start to the season.
"I thought the key was definitely our defense," Taggart said. "We weren't able to pressure them. They're a great team. We were able to run their shooters off the line, and we rebounded pretty well."
PHOTOS: Riverside-Lake Catholic boys basketball, Dec. 6, 2022
Lake Catholic (1-1) finished with a 36-31 rebounding edge, but Riverside competed with the Cougars in that aspect, led by Taggart's nine boards and six from senior Austin Lee. Eleven of the Beavers' rebounds came on the offensive end.
Both teams exhibited some sloppiness with the basketball in the early going, combining for seven turnovers before Riverside senior Jake Elly hit a 3 for the game's first basket.
The Beavers grabbed a 5-2 lead on Taggart's first bucket, and the game went back and forth until halftime from there. Riverside, led by Taggart's 15 points, took a 24-20 lead into the break.
@RRebounders junior Andrew Taggart, who scored a game-high 31 points including 14-for-14 showing from the line, breaks down Riverside's 55-49 win over Lake Catholic pic.twitter.com/GOWVjLR7DW
— Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) December 7, 2022
Lake Catholic closed to within 26-25 in the third quarter on a 3 by senior Aidan Fitzgerald, who scored a team-high 20 points, and a basket by junior Peyton Budrys-Rini, who finished with eight points after setting a school record with 47 points in a win over North on Dec. 2.
Riverside slowly created some separation, winning possessions until Elly sank a 3 on a feed from senior Charlie Fox that gave the Beavers a 39-30 lead with 2:01 left in the third quarter.
Riverside built its lead back to nine at 50-41 in the fourth frame after two Taggart free throws finished a 7-2 run, but a bucket by Robert Russell and triple by Fitzgerald got the Cougars within 52-46.
Fitzgerald would add one more trey, but Taggart and Elly finished out the win at the line.
After a pair of fairly easy wins to start the season, Riverside impressed Coach Matt Grendel in showing its ability to win a tough one against a good opponent.
"It showed a lot about our guys. Our kids are competitors," Grendel said of the win. "No moment in this game ever got to them or seemed too big. They were able to keep their composure."
More postgame chat with @RRebounders coach Matt Grendel pic.twitter.com/JjplB1qiuX
— Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) December 7, 2022
Elly finished with 11 points for Riverside, which forced 18 turnovers while turning it over 13 times. Fox, still working his way back from injury, only scored two points but chipped in with six assists and six steals.
Grendel thought Taggart showed outstanding decision-making in pacing the offense.
"The 14 for 14 from the foul line stands out — we needed all those," Grendel said of Taggart. "This is his third year as a starter, and he's only a junior. The decisions he made on the floor were great, recognizing when to attack the basket and when to pull the ball back out, or when to drive and kick.
"Charlie (Fox) is battling through some injuries, but he stepped up in other ways tonight to help us get this win. I thought this was one of the best defensive games he's had."
After almost matching the school record for points in a 108-83 win over North to start the season (the record is 109, according to Lake Catholic assistant AD Sam Colacarro), Lake Catholic will have to show fortitude and bounce back after a tough loss.
Fitzgerald pulled down 10 rebounds to go with his 20 points for a double-double, while Dylan Wimbs had nine points and nine boards.
"We thought this would be a high-scoring, up-and-down game," Lake Catholic coach Matt Vespa said, echoing the sentiments of Grendel, who thought the same. "It turned into a grind-it-out, rock fight, toughness game. For the first time since I've been here, I feel like we got out-toughed a little bit."
Vespa is eager to see how his team will respond to experiencing the high of putting up triple-digits in a 25-point win to the low of falling in a defensive slugfest.
"It will be interesting," Vespa said. "This is the first adversity we've faced. We knew that this was coming at some point. But these guys have a good mentality, and they'll continue to work.
"Now we've seen both games, wide-open, up-and-down, and sometimes we're going to have grind one out. We're going to have to figure out how to do that."
@LC_Hoops coach Matt Vespa discusses Lake Catholic's 55-49 loss to Riverside pic.twitter.com/YF8GTnHmyA
— Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) December 7, 2022
Lake Catholic travels to Holy Name on Dec.10, and Riverside will open Western Reserve Conference play at North on Dec.13.
