No. 1-seeded Riverdale rolls past WC girls
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Taking on the top-seeded Riverdale Lady Warriors, who entered the game ranked No. 6 in the state, Warren County fell behind by double digits early, and saw its season come to an end with a 72-39 loss.
For the Lady Pioneers, the season ended with a 4-24 overall record. Riverdale improved to 29-3 and advanced to the tournament?s second round.
District 7?s Most Valuable Player, Anne Marie Lanning, made her presence known with a 13-point night, but it was her teammate, Alex Bivens, who dealt the most damage, scoring 12 in the first half on her way to a game-high 25 points.
Bivens scored nine of her total in the first quarter, a period which featured a 21-2 Riverdale run as the Lady Warriors worked their way to a 25-6 lead heading into the second.
After Bivens and Jessica Whitens both hit 3-pointers to open the second, Warren County?s Brittany Frazier answered with a trey of her own, prompting a frustrated RHS coach Micheal Burt to pull his starting five from the game in favor of a fresh lineup of reserves. WCHS tried to capitalize on the substitutions, and scored 10 points in the remainder of the quarter while allowing just four and going into halftime down 35-21.
But the original five returned for the Lady Warriors after halftime, and a 19-1 run over the final seven minutes of the third quarter put the Lady Pioneers away, as Riverdale coasted through the final period with a more-than-comfortable lead.
Nikki Talley chipped in eight points ? all in the second half ? for RHS, while Shellina Burgess had six.
For Warren County, Frazier scored a team-high 18 points, while Tessa King had seven. Sarah Roller had six points, all of which came in the first half, while senior Kasey Owens had five.