SOUTH BEND – Emotions were high before, during and after South Bend Riley’s 52-48 win over Mishawaka Marian in Northern Indiana Conference boys basketball action Friday.
Prior to the game, Riley honored one of its former players in Braylon Giden, who tragically died in a car accident in June. Dozens of family members and friends of Giden were on-hand for a pregame ceremony to recognize Giden’s impact on the community.
During the game, multiple technical fouls were given to both teams, with Riley getting four consecutive ones midway through the fourth quarter that led to Wildcats head coach Alex Daniel being ejected and Marian shooting nine-straight free throws.
After the game, Daniel was teary-eyed talking about his team’s performance.
“It was a good ball game,” Daniel said. “Two competitive teams, conference teams. Both teams coming in probably felt like they should win. Good crowd, great environment.”
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The nine-straight Knights free-throw attempts came after Riley senior Ayden Kent made a shot to put the home team ahead, 45-30, with 4:47 remaining in the game. Kent was called for a technical foul for taunting right after. Daniel — who had received a technical foul due to a bench warning being called on the Wildcats in the second quarter — received another technical foul for something he said, leading to his ejection.
“I put my team in a bad situation, but it is what it is,” Daniel said. “I’m always going to fight for my kids and what I think is right by them.”
As the referees started sorting out those two technical fouls, players on both teams started shoving each other near midcourt. When the dust settled, Riley was assessed three more technical fouls, leading to the Marian free-throw attempts.
The Knights would make six of them, cutting a 15-point deficit down to nine with no time coming off the clock.
Riley (3-0, 2-0 NIC) would gather itself momentarily, as a ‘3’ from Marvin Schindler a minute later pushed the Wildcat lead to 48-36.
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Marian (1-1, 0-1 NIC) started its late-game comeback from there, going on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to two. Eventually, the Riley lead was 51-48 after the Wildcats made one of four free-throw attempts on a trip down the court.
Needing a ‘3’ to tie, Marian junior Paxan Sullivan put up a tough shot from beyond the arc that fell short of the rim. Kent was there to grab the rebound, with the senior being fouled. He’d make one of two free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining, sealing the victory for Riley.
Schindler led the Wildcats with 18 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter.
“He’s a big-time player, and he makes big-time shots,” said Daniel of Schindler. “He’s never scared of those moments. Him nailing those ‘3’s’ from the volleyball line — that’s something our team has been seeing for the past three years.”
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Mancell Hall also reached double-digit scoring for Riley with 13 points. Eight different Wildcats scored in the contest.
Sullivan led all scorers from Marian with 19 points. They also had a variety of players score, with seven different ones entering the stat sheet.
“I’m really proud of my team,” Marian coach Robb Berger said. “We’re not young, but this is a very inexperienced team. We lost our top three scorers from last year, and for them to compete against a top-20 team in the state in their own gym, I couldn’t be happier.”
Both teams honor Braylon Giden pregame
There weren’t many dry eyes inside Algie Oldham Gymnasium before the game as Riley High School honored Giden.
Two commemorative displays with Giden’s high school jerseys were presented to his parents. Riley’s principal, Shawn Henderson, announced a free basketball summer camp to begin in July in Giden’s honor as well.
Both teams took a picture with family members at midcourt. Both head coaches knew Giden well, making the moment even more special for both.
“He was a great kid,” Berger said. “I remember him as a player, and then as he was getting into coaching, we would talk from time to time. He was a great kid. It’s very sad. You don’t want that to happen to anybody, especially a great, young man like he was.”
“I actually coached at Bethel while he was there,” Daniel said. “He was a community guy. Anytime you go out to a gym or a community center, Braylon was bound to be around. He was a guy where I definitely could’ve seen him on a Riley bench one day as a coach. That really touches me.”