Lady Rebels cruise to win over rival BIC

Riverside (20-4, 10-0) used a 25-9 second quarter to take a 38-20 halftime lead on their way to a 67-27 win over BIC (10-12, 4-5) in 2A-3 girls' conference basketball action this past Saturday in Lake City.

Hallee Wells gave BIC the early 2-0 with two free throws before Gracie Washington scored in the paint for the Lady Rebels to tie the game at two. Arabella Oliver hit one of three free throws for the Lady Mustangs after being fouled shooting a three-pointer before Ryley Eakins scored inside for Riverside making it 4-3 Lady Rebels with 5:46 left. Oliver scored down low for BIC only to see the Lady Rebels get triple twine from Briley Travis, two free throws from Brooklyn Berry and a steal and lay up from Eakins to make it 11-5 Riverside. Wells canned a three-ball for the Lady Mustangs, Ali Towles stuck back an offensive rebound before Kendra Towell hit a jumper for BIC making it 13-10 Lady Rebels. Riley Parker hit one of two free throws late for the Lady Mustangs making it 13-11 Riverside at the end of one quarter of play.

The Lady Rebels opened the second quarter with a 10-0 run as Berry and Eakins both scored in the paint, Washington got inside for a score, Amber Courtney got a stick back as Carly Jo Womack scored down low making it 23-11 Riverside with 4:22 left. Oliver stopped the run with two free throws for BIC only to see Courtney score in the paint and Travis hit a three-ball to push Riverside's lead to 28-13. Parker hit two free throws for the Lady Mustangs, Annalee Qualls scored down low for Riverside, Jaylyn Cagle canned a three-ball for BIC before Eakins scored down low for the Lady Rebels to make the score 32-18 Riverside. The Lady Mustangs got two free throws from Cagle before Riverside got a basket in the paint from Eakins and four of five free throws from Womack in the last six seconds, the last three after being fouled shooting a three at the buzzer, to make the halftime score 38-20 Lady Rebels.

Lady Rebel Kendra Towell scores a basket between Riverside's Amber Courtney (left) and Carly Jo Womack during girls' conference play this past Saturday. (Photo by Cosmo Cossey)

Eakins got a steal and lay up as Towles converted an old-school three-point play to extend the Riverside lead to 43-20 early in the second half, before Parker hit one of two free throws for BIC to make it 43-21. Berry canned a three-ball and Towles scored inside for Riverside before Cagle drilled a three-pointer for BIC to make the score 48-24 Lady Rebels with 3:20 left. Riverside scored the last nine points of the quarter as Womack and Berry hit back to back three-pointers before Berry converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make the score 57-24 Lady Rebels at the end of three quarters.

With the mercy clock in play at the start of the fourth quarter, Travis hit a jumper followed by a three-pointer to push the Lady Rebels lead to 62-24 before Josephine Hanneken hit one of two free throws for BIC making it 62-25. Courtney converted a conventional three-point play before scoring in the paint for the Lady Rebels and Cagle scored inside for the Lady Mustangs to set the final score at 67-27 Riverside.

“I really liked our defensive play in the second half only giving up seven total points,” Riverside head coach Tyler Timms said of his team's play after the game. “Was glad to have Ali Towles back, she’s a big difference maker for us. Everybody played really well, nice to get to 10-0 in conference. Looking forward to the stretch run,” Timms added.

Eakins scored 14 points to lead Riverside, while Travis added 11 points. Womack and Courtney scored nine points each for the Lady Rebels.

“We have a lot to figure out and not much time left to figure it out. Riverside is a tough team and they came ready to play tonight!,” BIC head coach Trevor Matheny said after the game. “We did not come ready to play tonight,” Matheny added.

Cagle led BIC with 13 points while Wells and Oliver finished with five points each. Parker added four points for the Lady Mustangs.