South Bend Riley has been one of the most unlikely stories this postseason around Indiana. The Wildcats went just 7-14 during the regular season. They have now rattled off four wins in a row after defeating Northridge Saturday morning in the Regional semifinal 71-56.

Northridge started the game quickly as the Raiders jumped out to a 9-2 lead behind the play of Pete Smith and Christian Bach. Smith played a gutty game throughout, he left nothing on the floor. Bach was solid for Northridge the entire game as well. His inside presence did damage to Riley especially in the first half.

Riley rebounded from the slow start. By the end of the first quarter, the Wildcats had their feet under them. A last second 3-pointer by Jadon Grundy cut the Northridge lead to 11-10. Freshman Sharmar Dillard found a rhythm in the second period. He scored nine points in the quarter. His play pushed Riley to the lead at half time.

After a rough first half, star freshman Damezi Anderson helped Dillard in the scoring category in the second half. Anderson has had a great freshman campaign. He was just one of eight shooting from the field in the first half. He converted his first four shots of the second half including three 3-pointers.  He finished with a game-high 18 points, Grundy also had 18 points.

Riley started to pull away early in the second half thanks to Anderson's shooting. They stretched the lead to 20 points at one point, but Northrdige did not give up. Led by Smith, the Raiders cut the lead down to four points late in the third quarter. Riley answered back by extending the lead into double digits for much of the fourth quarter.

Riley advanced to play the winner of Crown Point/Munster in the Michigan City 4A Regional Saturday night.

Damezi Anderson 18 points, six rebounds. Maurice Scott five points. Sharmar Dillard 14 points, four rebounds, Darrius Moragne two points, four rebounds. Jadon Grundy 18 points, five rebounds. Reontre Lawrence 14 points, seven rebounds.

Collin Utley 13 points. Pete Smith 17 points, five rebounds, three steals, three assists. Kurtis Hochstetler 15 points, four rebounds. Tom Morrison two points. Christian Bach 10 points.