Riverview boys searching for more in season’s 2nd half

By: Ted Sarneso
Saturday, January 4, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The Riverview boys basketball team went nearly two weeks between games after losing a tough section contest to a talented Jeannette team, 66-34.

During their time between that game and their next against section rival Springdale on Friday, the Raiders were in the gym practicing and getting ready for the Dynamos.

“These two weeks have given us time to work on strategy and X’s and O’s,” coach Dre Corbin said. “We’re focused and locked in on Springdale. We have goals set for ourselves and what we want to do within the section. It’s not all going to be done in one or two games. It’s going to take a consistent effort as we prepare for each opponent one game at a time.”

Consistency is something Riverview struggled with in the first nine games of the season en route to a 4-5 record.

The Raiders got off to a good start, winning their games against Steel Valley and Brashear in the Play 4 Mae Tournament at Woodland Hills.

“To be in that tournament was great,” Corbin said. “I felt it was good for us to throw some games early on our schedule with just 10 or 15 practices under our belts and see how our guys responded.”

The two early wins showed the players responded to the challenge of not only playing with few practices, but also having to learn a new offense Corbin and his staff implemented.

“We’ve thrown a lot of different things at the guys in a short amount of time, and they’ve been able to respond and execute in game scenarios,” Corbin said.

The early shine started to wear off as the Raiders dropped their next four games, and like the Jeannette loss, none was close.

“Our losses have been 20-or-more-point losses, so we’ve been working on fighting and trying to make it difficult for opposing teams to get up by 20 points in the first half,” Corbin said. “We don’t like it, it’s not our expectation, so we want to see a little more fight and more heart.”

Coming out of the skid, the Raiders responded with consecutive wins against section foes Bentworth and Frazier.

“The game against Bentworth was also our first home game of the season,” Corbin said. “So to get the first section win on our court was nice. Against Frazier, we blew a four-point lead in the last minute, but got it back with six seconds left. Tough one on the road, but it felt good in terms of momentum and getting us excited for section play.”

Leading the attack for the Raiders is senior Alex Schulteis, who scored 12 points in the Steel Valley win, 23 points in the victory over Bentworth and 21 against Frazier.

“Alex has had his moments,” Corbin said. “I know he didn’t feel like he played his best against Jeannette and we know he might not have his best games at some points this season, but he’s very consistent for us.”

The Raiders have gotten secondary scoring from junior Ben Franciscus and sophomore Rex Roberts.

Franciscus scored 12 points in each of the wins against Bentworth and Frazier and led the team with 20 against Steel Valley. Roberts was the lone bright spot against Jeannette, putting up 15 points.

“Ben’s been a knock-down shooter for us and can create off the dribble as well,” Corbin said. “He’s a great communicator in practice and quickly understands what’s going on, can diagnose the information we give him.

“Rex was very consistent in attending all our offseason workouts. He’s locked in at every single practice. He can shoot the ball, but strives to improve himself through film sessions.”

Despite the output from their three leading scorers, the Raiders are only averaging 41 points a game, a far cry from the up-tempo offense Corbin said at the beginning of the year would be coupled with a “sound defense and be calling cards for the Raiders moving forward.”

“As coaches, we’ve had personnel in the past that we’ve had things work a certain way and a whole other group successful in other ways,” Corbin said. “Right now, we’re looking for different ways in which we can bring different methods to raise the tempo as far as aggression goes on the defensive end.

“Offensively, we’re trying to figure out easier ways for us to be in better spots to produce points. We ultimately want to put up more points than we have so far, we just have to continue to work in practice. The guys have been very coachable and have tried very hard in executing the things we want from them.”

Riverview is in fourth place in Section 1-2A with a 2-1 record and has just scratched the surface of section play.

Taking the one-game-at-a-time approach will serve the Raiders well, as their next two games after Springdale are against Greensburg Central Catholic and Clairton.

“We expect to continue to take it game by game and be focused,” Corbin said. “We need to continue to show heart, show effort, be locked in every day and be able to play for each other.”

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