After Riverside beat Four Rivers Conference rival Plymouth for the fourth time this season with a 78-70 victory in the sectional championship game on Friday, the Knights must now prepare for the challenge of facing an unfamiliar opponent in the NCHSAA 1-A East Regional round of the postseason.

It was announced Monday at the prep hoops meeting in Fayetteville, the new/old home of the boys and girls East Regional rounds of the playoffs, that Riverside (22-7), the No. 3 seed from the Four Rivers Conference, is set to clash with Pender (22-4), the No. 1 seed from the Tri-County Conference.

The two teams will square off Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at the Crown Arena in Fayetteville, and Riverside coach Bobby Williams said that the matchup will be a tough one.

“It will be a big challenge for us,” Williams said. “They are a very big ball club. The have a 6-10 kid and a 6-7 kid and a couple of kids who are 6-3 or 6-4; we will have some matchup problems. This is (Pender’s) third straight trip to the East Regionals with this group of seniors.”

Pender, led by coach Gary Battle, started its playoff journey with a 78-47 win over wild card entry South Robeson, then topped No. 3 East Columbus (9-14, Three Rivers) 73-63, before beating No. 2 West Columbus (11-12, Three Rivers) by the score of 75-65 to win the sectional championship.

Riverside began its path to the East Regional with a 62-42 win on the road over No. 2 Columbia (15-7, Tideland), then topped wild card Rocky Mount Prep (20-11) at home before hitting the road to face Four Rivers Conference regular season co-champions Plymouth (18-6).

The Knights are led by senior guard/forward Tremaine Anderson who averages 17.9 points per game, along with juniors Ramelle Lanier (18 ppg.) and 6-8 junior center Marcus Freeman (11.5 ppg). Williams said the key to the team’s playoff success is that everyone has contributed.

“I just think we have had a lot of guys step up late,” Williams said. “We have our big three where Tremaine is going to get his or Ramelle or Marcus is going to get his, but the other night at Plymouth Trevon Rodgers stepped up and gave us 14. We have just been playing together and sharing the basketball.”

With the hulking Freeman at center, Riverside has had a height advantage on just about every team it has faced this season, but on Thursday, they will face a Patriots team that can match up with the Knights’ height.

“This will probably be the first team with somebody larger than Marcus,” Williams said. “There will be some things we may try to do to take away some of their advantage … but at this time of year you don’t go away from what has been working for you.”

In order to neutralize the Patriots play in the paint, the Knights will need their big three to step up and play on the same page.

“That’s the key thing, getting them together and get them playing well at the same time,” Williams said. “I especially try to talk to Tremaine and Ramelle about getting Marcus involved early. If we can get Marcus involved early it opens up a lot of things for them on the outside.”

Williams also said his team must do a good job of hitting the glass.

“We have to have five guys making contact with everybody boxing out,” Williams said. “We have to make sure we obtain the basketball before we break out and run. We like to get out and go and if we leave Marcus rebounding by himself we could be in trouble.”

Before the Knights and Patriots collide, No. 1 Camden (23-5, Four Rivers Conference) will take on No. 1 Red Springs, (17-7, Three Rivers Conference) at 7 p.m. The winner of that game will take on the winner of the Riverside-Pender game on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Crown Arena.