Riverside’s girls basketball team took a step forward Thursday as it jumped on host Waynesfield-Goshen early for a 53-43 Northwest Central Conference victory.
The Pirates even their record to 7-7 on the season and are 4-1 in the NWCC standings.
“I’m proud of the improvement the girls showed tonight,” said Riverside head coach Bryce Hodge. “We played extremely sloppy Tuesday (against Houston), but I was extremely happy with how we took better care of the ball tonight. We had great ball movement, which led to a lot of good looks for us. Overall, I’m just proud our team took a step in the right direction tonight.”
Riverside grabbed a three-point lead (13-11) after one quarter and went on to outscore W-Goshen 16-3 in the second quarter. That pushed the Pirates out to a 29-14 halftime advantage.
Riverside continued to surge in the third quarter with a 15-8 run, which extended its lead to 20 points (44-22).
W-Goshen attempted to rally in the fourth quarter with a 21-9 run, but it wasn’t enough to catch the Pirates.
Lauryn Sanford recorded a double-double to spark the Pirates with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Olivia Perk tallied 11 points with six rebounds, Kirstin Schlumbohm had nine points with six rebounds and Amber Waters added 12 rebounds.
“I’m happy to see the scoring pretty balanced,” said Hodge. “Lauryn obviously had a great game, but I was also pleased with how Olivia shot the ball and how Kirstin took care of the basketball. Amber Waters didn’t score, but she brought down 12 rebounds which was huge for us.”
In junior varsity action, W-Goshen beat Riverside 24-17. Rachel Knight led the Pirates with four points.
Riverside travels to Bradford on Saturday for a non-league contest.
RIVERSIDE 53, W-GOSHEN 43
RIVERSIDE (7-7, 4-1)
Sanford 7 7-9 23; Perk 5 1-1 11; Schlumbohm 3 3-5 9; Copas 2 1-3 6; Knight 2 0-0 4. Totals: 19 12-18 53.
W-GOSHEN
DeLeon 1 0-0 2; Spencer 0 0-2 0; Schultz 4 0-0 9; Elliott 2 2-4 8; Barrington 4 0-0 10; Flinn 6 0-2 14. Totals: 17 2-8 43.
Pirates 13 • 16 • 15 • 9 — 53
Tigers 11 • 3 • 8 • 21 — 43
Three pointers: Riverside 3 (Sanford 2, Copas); W-Goshen 7 (Flinn 2, Barrington 2, Elliott 2, Schultz). Rebounds: Riverside 38 (Waters 12, Sanford 10); W-Goshen 31. Assists: Riverside 11. Steals: Riverside 10. Turnovers: Riverside 14. Team fouls: Riverside 10; W-Goshen 17.