Halfway through the third quarter, Riverside head coach Allen Arnold pulled star senior Sebi Boyogueno from the game.
Riverside’s 10-point lead over Eastside had dwindled away. Arnold wasn’t happy with the quality of some of the shots Boyogueno was taking.
When Boyogueno came to the sideline, Arnold, to put it lightly, gave his All-State senior a good talking-to.
“He was telling me to slow it down out there,” said Boyogueno. “And he was right. I had two or three bad shots in a row. We needed to get back to running our offense.”
“Sometimes, Sebi puts a lot on his shoulders and tries to do too much,” said Arnold. “We want him to do that at times. But he was taking a couple of bad shots. I really just wanted him to catch his breath and get refocused.”
And with the game tied at 68 with just seconds to play in the fourth, Boyogueno did put the game on his shoulders. It paid off.
Sophomore point guard Huck Flinn drove into the lane and put up a layup with three seconds to play. He couldn’t get it to fall.
A combined five Eagles and Warriors fought for the rebound under the basket. In the end, it was Boyogueno who outworked and outmuscled everyone around him.
The senior got a hand on the ball and ripped it away from an Eastside player with just one second to go. He lofted a shot at the rim.
It dropped through the net just as the final buzzer sounded.
“That was the first buzzer-beater I’ve had in my career,” said Boyogueno. It was crazy. We know how good that team is, but we know the potential we have. We want to go win the state. We didn’t want our season to end tonight.”
Boyogueno finished the night with 38 points and 10 rebounds, leading both teams in both categories.
“It’s about resilience,” said Arnold. “It’s hard to beat a great team three times, but we’ve found ways to win all year. It says a lot about this team and the determination of these players.
“Even on the last play, we had three players in there, fighting with everything they had to get that rebound. Sebi ended up being the one to come up with it.”
As soon as Boyogueno’s shot dropped, the sophomore Flinn wrapped him in a hug.
So did the entire Riverside student section.
Riverside students came flooding onto the court, cheering and jumping with Boyogueno, who could do nothing but yell to the sky in pure elation.
Riverside completed a season sweep against rival Eastside, with the third and final win against the Eagles being the hardest-fought.
“When that team is hitting shots, they’re really, really hard to beat,” said Flinn. “We didn’t have the best defense tonight, and they capitalized. Playing a good team three times in a season, and beating them three times, that’s never easy.”
Riverside’s next task will be against a team they haven’t seen yet this season. No. 5 seed Fort Mill (21-7 overall) comes to town on Monday night. A spot in the 5-A Division II Upper State Championship is on the line.
The Warriors will be ready for the challenge.
“We know Coach Arnold is going to scout and have us ready for that game,” said Flinn. “It’s always the same trust we have in the process. Always the same principles.”
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