One of the most anticipated basketball games since realignment was announced arrived for the first time on Friday night. The defending 4A state champion Riverside Warriors got a crack at a 5A perennial power Dorman Cavaliers. The Warriors overcame a 15+ point deficit to force overtime and take down the Cavaliers to move to 2-0 in the region, and drop Dorman to 1-1 in Region play. Here are my biggest takeaways from the game.
1-Dorman and Riverside matching up had the potential to be an elite matchup of two similarly built and battle tested teams that have gone deep in the playoffs, and Friday night’s matchup delivered exactly that. The Cavaliers built up a large lead in the second quarter through a barrage of three-pointers and strong interior defense, but it slipped away in the second half with turnovers. Most of them were takeaways from pesky Riverside guard play, but Dorman certainly shot themselves in the foot a few times as well.
2-The Cavaliers were paced by a 24 point night by starting guard Jaden Johnson. My eyes were drawn to the Dorman #2 white jersey all night with his active movement without the ball, flying off screens, quick passing, and hectic on-ball defense. Last year’s Dorman team was led by a smart point guard in Christian Andrews that always seemed to settle down play when the Cavaliers were getting out of control. Johnson can be something similar this year as the engine of the offense.
3-Dorman also features a three-man rotation of bigs that made a strong impact on a Riverside team that had certain rotations without the size to match up. Keenan Arcega-Whiteside started next to Will Bush, with Tyler White coming off the bench to spell them when they got in foul trouble. By the time overtime rolled around, Arcega-Whiteside and Bush had both fouled out of the game.
4-Johnson led the way with 24 points for Dorman, and was followed by Aaden Bruton-Smith’s 15 and Bush’s 12. Dorman should be in good shape to build off of this and continue to get better throughout the year and contend for another state championship.
5-Riverside showed tremendous resilience in this game to come from behind and get stop after stop in the fourth quarter and overtime to grab the win. The Warriors prevented a game-winner in regulation and hit the clutch free throws to win it. Sebi Boyogueno had a game-high 28 points in the win, while Mikkel Skinner and Keyon Knowles came off the bench for 15 and 13 points each respectively.
