Drew Brown, Palmer Hanlin and the rest of the Riverside seniors had no intention of letting their high school careers come to an end in a Division II district semifinal against visiting Solon on March 3. Not again. Not after the Beavers blew a halftime lead and lost to the visiting Comets in the to urnament last season, 95-69. Or the season before, when Riverside fell to visiting Solon in an early-season game, 82-70. The Beavers knew rebounding would be the difference, if they wanted to get over the proverbial hump against Solon. A tremendous effort on the boards, and some clutch 3-point shots and free throws in the fourth quarter did the trick, as Riverside never trailed in a 63-56 victory. The Beavers advance to a district final March 7 against North Canton Hoover at 3:30 p.m. at Valley Forge. Hanlin led Riverside with 18 points, including three huge triples in the fourth quarter when Solon made it close. Brown added 15 points, and junior David Siebert tallied 14. Just as important was a 37-25 rebounding edge for the host Beavers. Siebert had nine rebounds, and junior J’Ayvion Kyser and Brown each pulled down eight boards. “Our game plan was to dominate the glass. We thought we were bigger than them,” Brown said. “That was the main thing. We wanted to play our game and have fun, and still dominate the glass.” Solon (11-12) didn’t have many players who could match the size and length of Brown, Siebert or Kyser, but they did have a group of guards around standout senior Jonathan Kambani who had a reputation for 3-point marksmanship. But the Beavers were prepared defensively, closing quickly on shooters on the perimeter, and coming back inside to get rebounds. Riverside (15-8) grabbed an early 12-2 lead and extended that to 16-6 at the end of the first quarter. Brown scored six of his points, and Kambani picked up two fouls, and then his third in the second quarter, so he had to sit out the rest of the half. Prior to that, though, Solon started the second quarter with a 9-0 run to pull within 16-15. Riverside responded with a 13-5 run, which included a breakaway, rim-rattling dunk by Siebert, two inside buckets by Brown, and Hanlin’s first 3 as the Beavers took a 29-20 lead into halftime. In the district semifinal matchup between the teams last season, Solon overcame a halftime deficit with a blistering 30-5 third quarter run on the way to a 26-point victory. The painful memory lingered in the back of the minds of the Beavers, who kept a steady course through this third quarter, with both Brown and senior Ethan Baker knocking down 3s as Riverside took a 43-33 lead into the fourth quarter. Riverside held a 50-38 lead with five minutes left when Brown incurred his fourth foul, and had to hit the bench for a few minutes. Solon chipped away, taking advantage of seven Riverside turnovers in the fourth quarter and used a 13-5 run to pull within 55-51 with 1:13 to play. Hanlin’s first two 3s of the final stanza extended Riverside’s lead to double digits, but his third was a virtual dagger, giving the Beavers a 58-51 lead with less than a minute to go. @BvrBball seniors Palmer Hanlin (left, 18 points including 3 huge 3s in the fourth quarter) and Drew Brown (15 points and 8 boards) review Riverside’s 63-56 D2 District Semifinal win over Solon pic.twitter.com/1tZOtEdPhN — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) March 4, 2026 “It’s great. My teammates got me the ball,” Hanlin said. “They drove to the hoop and kicked it out. Every guy played help defense. When they started to face guard me, my teammates drove to the hoop, and we crashed the boards.” Harden converted 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute to help preserve the win. The Beavers shot 42% from the field (25 of 59), and were 6 of 22 from outside the arc. “Defense,” Riverside coach Matt Cardina was quick to cite as the key to the win. “We were up and down on offense. But our defense was there the entire game, taking away 3s on the wings and the corners, and the 3s that they did take I thought were well-contested. @BvrBball Coach Matt Cardina talks about what it took for Riverside to get over the hump against Solon in a 63-56 D2 District Semifinal victory pic.twitter.com/JlpTdtwysn — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) March 4, 2026 “We blocked out and got rebounds, and I thought we were able to control the flow that way.” Kambani lead all scorers with 23 points, and fellow senior Aaron Booze and sophomore Dante Howell both finished with 10 points for Solon. The Comets were 22 of 59 from the floor (37%), 8 of 17 at the line, and 4 of 22 on 3s. But they outscored Riverside in the fourth quarter, 23-20, to make it close down the stretch. @SolonAthletics Coach Rob Stircula goes over the Comets’ 63-56 loss in a D2 District Semifinal at Riverside pic.twitter.com/mBYZjQcZsa — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) March 4, 2026 “Apart from a few minutes here and there, I thought we played hard,” Solon coach Rob Stircula said. “At the start of the third quarter, we had four or five clean (3-point) looks that we usually knock down, and we felt a little sorry for ourselves that we missed them. “Little things that we normally do well we didn’t do today. And (Riverside) hit some shots. (Brown) had some big shots, and (Palmer) had some huge shots, he took a few shots I couldn’t believe he made.” Riverside will look to continue to ‘survive and advance’ against a North Canton Hoover squad that finished in second place in the Federal League behind champion Canton McKinley. “Three more days of hard work in practice, working on surviving and advancing,” Brown said. “One game at a time, focus on the next one, and figure it out from there.” THE SCORE (MARCH 3) Riverside 63, Solon 56 ...read more read less