MICAHEL KIRAL

EDGARD – Riverside held off a fourth quarter rally by West St. John to clinch at least third place in District 9-2A with a 69-57 victory Tuesday night. Riverside moved to 8-3 in district and 16-11 overall with the win. The Lady Rebels lost to Newman, 47-38, in a battle for second place Thursday night. West St. John dropped to 4-7 in district and 8-14 overall. Riverside’s Crystal Rome led all scorers with 26 points. Heather Montz tossed in another 16 points and Wendy Reames 11. West St. John was led by Janell Morris with 22 points. Keyen Weber added 17 points and Taryn Pierce nine. Riverside took a 46-35 lead into the fourth quarter. Weber hit three free throws and Morris buried a jumper to pull the Lady Rams to within six. Kita Harry then drove the left baseline, making it 46-42 with 5:09 left in the game. Reames answered with a 3-pointer from the left wing but Pierce came back with one from the right side. Morris then nailed a jumper, cutting the deficit to 49-47 with 4:09 remaining. But that would be as close as the Lady Rams could get. Montz scored inside on the next possession and Rome followed with a free throw. After a jumper by Morris, Candice Perret hit a jumper on the right side and Montz and Reames added free throws to make it 57-49 with 2:21 left. West St. John pulled back to within four on a 3-pointer by Pierce and two free throws by Morris with 1:30 left. But again the Lady Rebels answered as Rome scored inside and added two free throws and Adrienne Albares hit two free throws for a 64-56 lead with 43 seconds left. Rome hit three free throws and Montz two in the final 30 seconds to seal the win. “They made their shots,” Riverside head coach Matt White said of West St. John. “I was impressed with their overall shooting. They would cut it to four but we would move it up again and the clock got to be in our favor.” Riverside led 31-24 at halftime and moved out to a 33-24 advantage early in the third quarter as Rome found Perret inside. West St. John came back to cut the deficit to three as Pierce and Weber buried 3-pointers from the right wing. But Montz came back with a put back after Amy Hymel had hit the first of two free throws, then added two free throws of her own for a 42-34 lead. Rome added two more free throws at the end of the quarter to build the lead to 11. West St. John opened the game by taking a 5-1 lead on a 3-pointer by Weber. Riverside came back to take an 8-7 lead on a Rome 3-pointer with 4:36 left. The Lady Rams answered with a put back and jumper by Morris to go back ahead, 11-8. Again, the Lady Rebels responded with a jumper and 3-pointer by Reames to make it 13-11. After Morris tied the game, Reames buried another 3-pointer and Rome followed with a drive to give the Lady Rebels an 18-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. West St. John pulled to within 20-19 early in the second quarter as Latoya Lewis found Morris inside. After a put back by Hymel, Weber tied it with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 2:55 left. A possession later, Weber put the Lady Rams ahead with a jumper from the right side. Riverside then closed out the half on a 9-0 run. Montz got the run started with two free throws then added a jumper from the left side. A jumper by Rome and free throws by Jessica Watts and Rome gave the Lady Rebels a seven-point halftime lead.