COMMERCE — The Riverside Military Academy boys and the Commerce girls both advanced to the quarterfinals of the Region 8-A Tournament Monday night at the Commerce gym.
The Eagles roughed up Providence Christian 59-35 in the first round while the Lady Tigers routed the Providence Christian girls 51-31. The Towns County teams, however, were not so lucky.
The Towns County boys lost 53-40 to Athens Christian while the Lady Indians dropped a 36-29 decision to the Athens Christian girls.
For Riverside (10-10) against Providence Christian, the Eagles usd a 22-12 second quarter to blow open a close 11-8 lead after the opening period. They continued to extend the lead outscoring Providence 17-6 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
Isaac Teasley paced Riverside with 16 points and added 4 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assists. Jabari DePass just missed on a double-double with 9 points and 12 rebounds. Michael Poteat had 8 points and 4 rebounds and Khalid Duke, who is still working back into shape after missing part of the season with an injury, had 5 points and 5 rebounds.
Riverside next will take on 8-A South No. 1 seed Prince Avenue (16-8) on Tuesday in Commerce. The Eagles lost a close 56-48 decision to the Wolverines in their only meeting of the season this past Saturday on the road in the regular season finale.
The Commerce girls (8-17) will see if they can pull the first major upset of the tournament on Tuesday when they take on 8-A South No. 1 seed Prince Avenue (21-2). The Lady Tigers lost 69-30 to the Lady Wolverines on Saturday in the season finale at home.
Those won't be the only area teams in action on Tuesday in the 8-A tournament. Both Lakeview Academy teams, the 8-A North No. 1 seeds, will see their first action. Both teams will take on Athens Christian with the girls tipping off at 7 p.m. and the boys at 8:30 p.m.
All winners on Tuesday will advance to the semifinals. Only the region tournament winners will earn automatic berths into the playoffs as Class A fills the rest of the 24-team fields using the GHSA power rankings.
