Riverside’s girls basketball team gave a battle to local rival West Liberty-Salem on Saturday, but the Tigers prevailed for a 50- 46 non-league win.

WL-Salem ends its regular season at 19-1, while Riverside falls to 9-10.

Although the Pirates came up short, Riverside head coach Dean Sanford was pleased with his team’s performance against the state-ranked Tigers.

“It was a fantastic team effort,” said Sanford. “We were very patient on offense and ran it through until we were able to get the ball inside to Amelia (Carter) and Sara (Emerich).

“We did a great job containing (Haleigh) Hickenbottom in the second half. I thought Amelia and Sara’s defense against Becka (Peterson) was outstanding. It was a great confidence builder to begin our tournament run.”

The Tigers jumped ahead early, taking a 14-8 lead after one quarter. The Pirates cut the Tigers’ lead to four (22-18) at halftime.

WL-Salem then led by just one point (31-30) after three quarters.

When the dust settled in the fourth quarter, the Tigers emerged with their four-point win.

Becka Peterson led WL-Salem with 15 points, Haleigh Hickenbottom scored 13 points and Kayla Peterson added 10 points in the win.

Amelia Carter had another big night for the Pirates as she led her team with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Also for RHS, Erica Snapp had nine points and Kara Metz added seven points and 10 rebounds.

The Pirates won the junior varsity game 34-25. Whitney Jenkins scored 12 points for Riverside and Ally Culley had 10 points for the Tigers.

Riverside is back in action today at Fairlawn in another non-league game, while WL-Salem is in tournament action at 6 p.m. Wednesday against Versailles at Twin Valley South.

WL-SALEM 50, RIVERSIDE 46

WL-S (19-1) Hickenbottom 4 4-4 13; King 1 6-6 8; Mayse 1 0-2 2; Park 1 0-0 2; B. Peterson 5 5-6 15; K. Peterson 4 2-2 10. Totals: 16 17-20 50.
RHS (9-10) Carter 9 0-0 18; Snapp 3 2-2 9; Metz 1 5-6 7; Purtee 1 2-2 5; Emerich 2 0-0 4; Heaberlin 1 1-2 3. Totals: 17 10-12 46.

Tigers 14 8 9 19 — 50
Pirates 8 10 12 16 — 46

Three pointers: Riverside 2 (Purtee, Snapp); WL-Salem 1 (Hickenbottom).
Rebounds: Riverside 41 (Carter 13, Metz 10).
Assists: Riverside 12 (Snapp 4).
Steals: Riverside 6 (Purtee 3).
Turnovers: Riverside 27.
Team fouls: Riverside 18; WL-Salem 11.