Riva turns around Antioch High boys’ basketball, first league game victory in four years
Antioch High point guard Demauriaye Smith leaping over 6-foot-7 teammate Shane Landon in a dunk contest at a school rally. by Michael Pohl
By Luke Johnson
After three embarrassing years, Antioch High School boys’ basketball is back on track to success with an 11-6 record midway through the season.
On Friday, Jan. 16, point guard Demauriaye Smith drained a game-winning three-pointer against rivaled Pittsburg, and the Panthers won their first game against a Bay Valley Athletic League opponent since Feb. 18, 2011, which calculates to a 30-game losing streak and a 1,428-day dry spell.
“When the shot left my hand it looked good, and I had all the confidence in the world it was going it,” Smith said.
After winning the BVAL Championship in 2011, Antioch had a vacant varsity head coaching position, and hired Kevin Moffett over alum and long time JV and freshman coach Andrew Riva.
In two seasons, Moffett dug the program into the ground. He posted an atrocious 2-43 record, including going winless in his final campaign. He was fired after the 2012-13 season, and Antioch approached Riva with the position again.
“It really hurt. I thought I was ready,” Riva said about being denied the head coaching job. “But I told myself, ‘If it became open again, I wouldn’t hold a grudge.’”
The Panthers went through a rebuilding process last season, and finished with a 3-23 record. But this year, they have more victories than the previous three combined. The team is led by two seniors, JT Branch, who scored 30 points, and Smith, who scored 20, in the 60-57 win against Pittsburg.
“The players have taken a big step from wanting to win to expecting to win,” Riva said. “This has been a dream job for me.”
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Demauriaye dunks
