Lady Rebels take second in district tourney

Melbourne’s quickness and depth proved too much for Riverside to handle as the Lady Bearkatz captured the 2A-3 district championship, rolling to a 47-27 victory over the Lady Rebels Friday night at Monette.

Riverside took its only lead of the game, 2-0, on an early Briley Douglas bucket.

But the Lady Bearkatz quickly answered, getting back to back three-point bombs from Kiley Webb and Danni Hardaway to take the lead. Riverside fought back and closed the gap to a single point, 10-9, when Hailey Carr drilled a triple at the 2:10 mark.

The two teams traded buckets before freshman standout Kenley McCarn dropped in a pair of free throws to close out the quarter with Melbourne leading 14-11.

Bean Hoffman buried a trey to begin the second stanza, tying the score at 14-all. Melbourne then went on a 10-0 run, triggered by back to back triples from McCarn to lead 24-14 with 4:13 remaining in the half.

The Lady Bearkatz went to the dressing room ahead 28-16.

Riverside turned up the defense in the third quarter, holding Melbourne

to just a long three pointer by Reagan Rapert. Riverside got all its points in the quarter from Bean Hoffman, as the Lady Rebels trimmed the deficit to 31-23 heading into the final frame. But the fourth period belonged solely to Melbourne, who outscored Riverside 16-4, holding the Lady Rebels without a field goal. Melbourne’s win over Riverside was their third straight over the Lady Rebels this season.

Rapert and McCarn paced the Lady Bearkatz with 14 points apiece.

Melbourne sank seven of 11 foul shots and drained six three pointers.

Bean Hoffman topped Riverside with 14 points. Grace Puckett scored seven, Carr had three, Douglas tallied two while Lotti Hoffman finished with one point. The Lady Rebels dropped in six of eight free throws and canned three treys.

“Melbourne presents us with a lot of matchup problems,” said Riverside

coach Spencer Hoffman. “I thought we did some good things defensively to slow them down, but we struggled offensively getting the shots we wanted. Melbourne forced us into shots we really didn’t want to take. We lacked a little discipline on the offensive end. We are excited to be going on to the regional tournament and we will get ready for our opponent. Hopefully we can win that game and advance to state.”

Riverside advanced to the district title game by defeating Marmaduke

38-28 in Thursday night’s semifinals.

Riverside held a slim 10-9 edge after the first quarter before taking a 17-14 advantage into the dressing room at intermission. The Lady Rebels clung to a 25-22 lead after three periods of play. Riverside opened the fourth quarter, outscoring Marmaduke 10-2 to break the game open.

Lotti Hoffman paced Riverside with 11 points. Bean Hoffman and Grace Puckett scored nine points apiece, Douglas had seven while Carr added two. The Lady Rebels were sharp from the foul stripe, nailing 14-18 attempts. Riverside banged home two treys.

Reesa Hampton topped Marmaduke with 12 points. The Lady Greyhounds made four of nine free throws and hit two three pointers.

Riverside will open regional tournament play at Rector Thursday night at 7 p.m.