TROY — The Pirates took a big step and avoided the letdown.
Riverside built an early advantage, then held off a rally to edge Northeastern 55-53 in Division VI boys basketball Thursday.
It is the first postseason win for the Pirates (8-15) in over a decade. They advance to the district semifinals next Wednesday and will face Fort Recovery, who defeated Houston 59-50 in the first game of the doubleheader.
Seniors Gavin Orsborne and Jaxon Woods both had good nights. Orsborne hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, while Woods tallied 18.
Northeastern ends the year at 10-13. The Jets had four players in double figures. Noah Federinko scored 13 points, Rhett Lough with 11 and Jacoby Newman and Aiden Neer had 10 apiece.
“We came out of the game shooting the ball well and that’s was kind of the plan,” said Riverside coach Tim Woods.
“If they were going to double down on Jaxon, that was what they were going to do in the post, and he was going to kick it out. And Gavin got hot, he kind of led us through that first half. And then the second half — basketball is a game of runs. And they weren’t going to go away. They’re a pretty solid team, they play in a pretty tough league.”
Orsborne had four of his threes in the opening quarter, which saw Riverside build a nine-point lead. Northeastern started chipping away, getting it down to five at the half and three points after the third.
The lead swung back and forth at the start of the fourth. Riverside took the lead twice in the final minutes, but Northeastern drew back even both times. The second came with 1:45 to go on a steal and score.
Riverside then held the ball until Woods managed to get into the paint and hit a jumper with 40 seconds to go. Northeastern had a couple of more opportunities, but could not get anything more before time ran out.
Coach Woods noted that the team relies on freshman Brody Orsborne to handle the ball. “He’s probably a junior or senior at this point in the season,” said Woods. He also praised the contributions of seniors Damien Smith and Landon Purtee. “It was just an all around effort, team effort by everybody,” he said.
Orsborne had the first three scores for Riverside on the night, two of them from long range putting them up 8-2.
Northeastern eventually got with four points at 12-8, but Orsborne hit two more and Hayden Sanford got one with 10 seconds left as they boosted it to 21-12.
A free throw by Woods in the opening minute of period number two made it double digits. Newman hit a shot and Neer drove the lane for the Jets. After a score by Woods, Will Sudoff connected on a three with 3 1/2 minutes left. Just over a minute later, Carson Lookabaugh hit a trey, cutting the gap down to 25-22.
Newman and Gavin Orsborne traded scores for their respective squads to close out the half. The Pirates went to the break up by five, 31-26.
A putback by Newman and a score by Neer drew Northeastern within one point, 31-30 with 2 1/2 minutes gone by.
Off a block and a nearly full-court pass, Brody Orsborne scored, was fouled, and hit the bonus shot.
The teams kept trading scores before Brody Orsborne and Woods hit shots to stretch the lead back to six points. However, the Jets got a foul shot by Lough and then a basket by Federinko to make it a one-possession game, 42-39, going to the fourth.
Consecutive scores by Lough in the opening minute gave the Jets the lead for the first time.
Sanford scored for the Pirates, but a three-point play by Federinko swung it back the Jets’ way.
Gavin Orsborne rose and fired from the corner for his final 3-pointer of the night. Woods then made a steal and went coast-to-coast to put the Pirates up 49-46.
A three by Sudoff tied it with just under five minutes to go. Woods got a shot, and Smith stepped up and made two big free throws. But the Jets kept pace, the first on a score by Federinko and the other on the steal and score by Lough.
After the go-ahead score by Woods, Northeastern took it down but was called for traveling. Riverside called time with 14 seconds left. The Jets had fouls to give, and used them to keep stopping the clock.
The fifth foul came with six seconds left. Riverside missed both shots, with the Jets grabbing the rebound and calling time with 5.3 seconds.
They inbounded once, and Riverside fouled with 2.9 seconds to go. The Jets then put it in from right in front of their bench. The pass was broken up by the Pirates, and Northeastern was unable to get off a shot as the final buzzer sounded.
Riverside and Fort Recovery meet back at Troy on Wednesday. It is the second part of a doubleheader and is set to start at about 7:30 p.m., following Miami Valley and Anna.
The district final will be March 1 at 2 p.m. in Troy.