Lady Rebels close regular season with win over Manila

Riverside geared up for this week's 2A-3 District Tournament, closing out the regular season with a convincing 54-41 victory over Manila in senior girls basketball action Monday night at Lake City.

The Lady Rebels led from start to finish, improving their overall record to 18-11 on the year. Four different Riverside players scored in the opening quarter, as the Lady Rebels took an 8-5 lead after the first break. Back to back three point bombs from freshman guard Haven Robertson upped the Riverside advantage to 18-9 in the second period before Manila fought back, pulling to within 20-16. Heather Hollis sank a 10-foot jumper, followed by Taylor Harmon's seven foot runner in the lane. Hannah Teague capped off the Lady Lions' 7-2 run with a triple from the top of the key with just 12 seconds remaining in the half. But Robertson answered for Riverside with a slashing lay-in just before the halftime buzzer to put the Lady Rebels up 22-16 at intermission.

Riverside increased its lead in the third period on the strength of consecutive treys from Ashlyn Snyder and Skylar Kauke. Robertson's five-foot floater gave the Lady Rebels a 32-18 lead at the 4:26 mark. Riverside went ahead by as much as 14 points on an inside bucket by Gattlin Hale before Jordyn Wheeler's eight-foot bank shot sliced the Riverside lead to 38-26 entering the fourth quarter.

Riverside put the game away midway through the final period when Snyder buried two straight triples, followed by a Roberson bucket, giving the Lady Rebels an insurmountable 50-32 lead with 2:58 left in the game.

Robertson topped Riverside with a game high 22 points while Hale finished with 10. Snyder scored nine, Kauke had five, Hattie Milligan contributed four while Megan Davidson and Hannah Fisher chipped in two points each. Riverside connected on 6-11 foul shots and drained six three pointers on the night.

Harmon led the Lady Lions with 17 points while Lauren Woody netted eight. Wheeler scored seven, Hollis had four, Teague tallied three while Hannah McQueen pitched in two points. Manila sank 6-11 free throws and hit a pair of treys.

The Lady Rebels are scheduled to begin 2A-3 District Tournament play Wednesday night as the number three seed. Riverside will play the winner of the game between sixth seeded East Poinsett County and number seven seed Rector.