Riverside senior Cam Dather puts up about fifty of his patented push floater shots every practice.
They’re simple shots, but in games, they’re oh so effective. He rarely misses.
Dather hit three of those little floaters on Monday night against Fort Mill — on the way to a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds on 9-10 shooting. He led his Warriors to a fairly comfortable 64-45 win, earning Riverside a berth in the 5-A D2 Upper State Championship.
Dather was dominant all game long.
“I was trying to play off my team’s offense,” said Dather. “That’s what we practice. Whenever things open up on our offense, I’ll be there to do what I can. I got a lot of great opportunities tonight.”
Dather has waited patiently in the wings behind some talented Riverside bigs over the years. For the past two years, the senior played stagehand to standout forward Mikkel Skinner and bided his time.
In the most important game of his life Monday night, Dather showed the moment was far from too big.
“I just wanted to make sure I stayed patient over the years,” said Dather. “I knew my time was next. I knew this opportunity was coming.”
“Cam earlier in the year, he’s been really good. But he’s been silent good,” said Riverside head coach Allen Arnold. “But the last few games, it’s jumped out. His rebounding, his ability to be a great help defender… he was able to score the ball a lot tonight.”
Dather was only outscored in the game by star fellow senior Sebi Boyogueno, who had 24 points. Boyogueno had several showstopping dunks late in the contest to put the exclamation point on the Riverside win.
After the game, Boyogueno talked about the team’s 25-3 record and the way the year has gone for his Warriors.
“I just feel like everything has been going our way,” said Boyogueno of this season and Riverside’s playoff run thus far. “God has been paving a way for us, and we feel like this run is in our hands.”
The run comes to a familiar stop this Friday, as Riverside goes to battle with Greenville for the fifth time in the past two seasons.
Greenville has won all four of the previous matchups. In the past two, however, Riverside has led entering the fourth quarter. Greenville won the last contest, 68-65, back in December.
The Warriors and Red Raiders have become very familiar with one another. Arnold knows both teams will be ready for a dogfight in the fifth installment of the budding rivalry.
“You’ve got to respect their team, their program, their coaching,” said Arnold of Greenville. “It’s going to be fun. We know what they can do. At the end of the day, whoever imposes their will on the other is going to win the game.
“We want to play our style of basketball. I think whoever does that, that will be the difference in the ballgame.”
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