Riverside’s girls basketball team got off to a slow start against visiting Hardin Northern on Tuesday, but pulled away in the second half for a 53-30 Northwest Central Conference victory.
The Pirates are now 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the league.
“I’m proud of the girls for picking up the league win tonight,” said RHS head coach Bryce Hodge. “We started out extremely sloppy in the first half, but thankfully we picked it up and played much better in the second half.
“I thought Lauryn (Sanford) played extremely well for us offensively, as well as Amber (Waters) who scored in double digits in only her second varsity game.”
The score was deadlocked at 8-8 after the first quarter.
The Pirates used a 9-1 run in the second quarter to build a 17-9 cushion at halftime.
In the third quarter, Riverside was six points better (16-10) to stretch its lead to 33-19.
The Pirates continued to pull away in the fourth quarter.
Lauren Sanford paced the Pirates with 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Waters tallied 12 points, Kirstin Schlumbohm had nine points and Olivia Perk had six points with 18 rebounds.
“I’m most proud of Olivia for getting 18 rebounds,” said Hodge. “Her shots weren’t falling in the first half, but she still helped her team in a different way by getting what seemed like every rebound.”
Hardin Northern clipped Riverside 24-23 in the junior varsity game. Rachel Knight led the Pirates with nine points, while Alaina Heath and Kalaen Copas each had six points.
Riverside hosts Bellefontaine on Monday.
RIVERSIDE 53, HARDIN NORTHERN 30
HARDIN NORTHERN
Cook 0 0-2 0; Martin 0 1-2 1; Wilson 1 0-0 2; McCoy 1 1-6 3; Good 1 0-0 2; Grappy 6 5-6 22. Totals: 9 7-16 30.
RIVERSIDE (2-0, 1-0)
Schlumbohm 4 0-0 9; Sanford 7 3-5 18; Marshall 1 1-2 3; Waters 6 0-1 12; Perk 3 0-0 6; Kauffman 2 0-0 4; Copas 0 1-2 1. Totals: 23 5-10 53.
P. Bears 8 • 1 • 10 • 11 — 30
Pirates 8 • 9 • 16 • 20 — 53
Three pointers: Hardin Northern 5 (Grappy 5); Riverside 2 (Schlumbohm, Sanford). Team fouls: Hardin Northern 14; Riverside 16.