Third time’s the charm: Riverside completes sweep of Greer, wins upper state title
Drew Cannon (No. 3) celebrates with Julen Iturbe (No. 32) after Riverside’s win over Greer.
Two months ago, Riverside basketball took a nightmarish Florida trip.
The Warriors were flying high before the trip to play in a Sunshine State tournament—their record was 10-1. They went down to Florida soaring.
They left dejected.
Riverside went 2-2 in that tournament, but their offense suffered greatly. In one of their games, the Warriors scored a season-low 28 points.
“In the hotel during that trip, I remember seeing Coach Arnold was really upset. A lot of guys had their heads down and looked defeated,” said Riverside star forward Julen Iturbe. “It was tough.”
“I’ll be honest,” said Riverside head coach Allen Arnold. “I thought our season was over. I thought we were done.”
On that Florida trip, the Warriors realized playing without injured point guard Rylan Jones would be a challenge. Without Jones’ dynamic playmaking ability, Riverside would have to adjust.
And as it turns out, the Warriors season wasn’t over after all.
With a 58-48 win over rival Greer on Wednesday afternoon in Florence, the Warriors advanced to the Class 4-A state championship game.
It was Riverside’s third win over Greer this season and the first time the two teams had ever met in the playoffs.
“Greer is a great basketball team, and to beat them three times, I still can’t believe it,” said Arnold. “It’s incredibly hard to beat a team that good three times in a row.”
Depth has been the Warriors’ bread and butter all season long, and in part three against Greer, another unsung hero stepped up. Sophomore Reeves Garner led the way with 15 points and several timely threes.
“Whenever we see Greer, we want to destroy them,” said Garner. “It’s personal for us…my teammates did a good job setting me up tonight.”
“Reeves is someone who has grown up and matured a lot this season,” said Arnold. “He hit some big shots for us tonight when we needed it.”
Greer put up a strong fight, but the Jackets settled for arguably too many jump shots and contested looks—just as Riverside aimed to make them do. A historic season for Greer came to an end in the upper-state championship.
Greer’s final record—25-6.
Half of those losses came against the Warriors.
“A good coaching friend of mine told me coming into this one, ‘You know you can beat them. They don’t know if they can beat you,’” said Arnold. “That was kind of our mindset coming into tonight’s game. We knew what we had to do to get the job done, and we did it.”
That Florida trip seems so long ago now for the Warriors. They’re 13-1 since then and a game away from their first state championship since 1988.
“The most important part of all of this is that I get to spend three more days with my kids,” said Arnold. “I get to spend as much time coaching basketball as any coach in the state of South Carolina. That’s important.
“Whether we win or lose on Saturday, we’re still fighting. That’s what matters most.”
THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
Greer 10 9 11 18 - 48
Riverside 15 12 9 22 - 58