Riverside’s John Zumberger puts up a basket between two Botkins defenders during their game Tuesday at Riverside High School. (EXAMINER PHOTO | Aaron LaBatt)
Riverside’s boys basketball team couldn’t get its offense going fast enough against visiting Botkins on Tuesday and fell 72-41 in a non-league contest.
The Pirates drop to 2-7 on the season and the Trojans stay unbeaten at 9-0.
“I really liked our energy and aggressive mentality that we had out of the gate,” said RHS head coach Seth Bodenmiller. “Our guys worked hard all night and never quit. We knew that we would have to rebound on both ends of the floor and take care of the ball if we wanted to keep it close, and I thought we did that in spurts tonight. We just have to work on maintaining it for 32 minutes.”
Botkins jumped ahead of Riverside 22-13 at the end of the first quarter. The Trojans used a 17-9 run in the second quarter to push their lead to a 39-22 halftime score.
The offense got even hotter for Botkins in the third quarter with a 24-8 scoring surge. That made it a 63-30 advantage. Riverside took the fourth quarter 11-9.
John Zumberger led the Pirates’ efforts with 17 points, Kaden Burk and Walker Whitaker each had seven points and Jayden Burchett added six points.
In junior varsity action, Botkins dropped Riverside 55-29. Warren Shockey led the Pirates with 15 points and Cody Craig chipped in nine points.
The freshman game saw Botkins defeat Riverside 60-30. Dominik Stotler had 11 points and Michael Shockey had seven points.
Riverside hosts Lima Temple Christian on Friday for a Northwest Central Conference game.
BOTKINS 72, RIVERSIDE 41
BOTKINS (9-0)
Meyer 3 0-1 9; Paul 3 0-0 8; Priddy 6 1-2 16; Topp 1 4-6 6; C. Pelikan 2 1-2 5; Free 0 2-3 2; J. Pelikan 12 0-3 26. Totals: 27 8-17 72.
RIVERISDE (2-7)
Zumberger 6 3-5 17; Burk 3 0-0 7; Whitaker 3 0-1 7; Burchett 0 6-6 6; Stewart 2 0-0 4.
Totals: 14 9-12 41.
Trojans 22 17 24 9 — 72
Pirates 13 9 8 11 — 41
Three pointers: Riverside 4 (Zumberger 2, Burk, Whitaker); Botkins 10 (Priddy 3, Meyer 3, Paul 2, J. Pleiman 2).
Rebounds: Riverside 24 (Burk 5, Whitaker 5); Botkins 32.
Assists: Riverside 2. Steals: Riverside 11. Turnovers: Riverside 23. Team fouls: Riverside 15; Botkins 13.