(Oakland) Riverside salvaged a season split with Audubon by topping the Wheelers 62-58 in a boys basketball matchup Monday at Riverside.
Sophomore Grady Jeppesen led the way with 30 points, Ayden Salais scored 12, and Aiden Bell added 10. Jeppesen was 11/17 from the field, 3/6 beyond the arc, and 5/8 at the line. Salais added 3 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals. The Bulldogs fell on hard times early in the 2nd quarter, but responded with a big close to the half. An Audubon 15-0 run took the Wheelers from down six to up nine. Riverside bounced back with eight straight of their own to close within one. After Audubon briefly stretched the lead to 30-25, Jeppesen scored the final four points of the half to snug things up to 30-29 at the break.
Riverside scored 12 of the first 15 points after halftime and never trailed again. The Bulldogs went 12/15 from the line in the 2nd half to close things out. Salais was 4/4 in the final quarter at the line. The team went 16/21 in the game on free-throws. Riverside looked like they were going to run away with it when they built their lead to 41-33 midway though the 3rd. Audubon broke out of an offensive drought with 3-point shooting. Collin Bauer got hot and sank five from long range on the night to finish with 15 points. Carson Bauer splashed in one of the team’s nine 3’s and scored a team best 20 points.
Audubon closed within three points early in the 4th quarter and made a game of it. Riverside held a two possession lead for most of the stretch run, briefly leading by as many as seven or eight. Audubon made one more late run and got within 60-58, but Riverside escaped with a 62-58 victory. In addition to a huge night on offense, Jeppesen came up with a critical block on an Audubon fast break layup try when the Wheelers had a chance at a big momentum swing.
Riverside makes it back-to-back seasons of double digit wins. They are 10-7 overall and 6-6 in the Western Iowa Conference. Audubon moves to 5-12 on the year.
