MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / Febuary 17, 1999

LAPLACE – Riverside clinched second place in District 9-2A and secured a first round playoff game at home with a 41-36 victory at St. CharlesCatholic Friday night.

Riverside (20-8, 7-3) will play Jackson at home Thursday night. Thevictory was also the Lady Rebels’ 20th of the season, a school record. St.Charles Catholic (14-20, 6-4), which had clinched at least third place with a victory against St. Martin’s earlier in the week, will travel toTeurlings.

The game was tied at 32 going into the fourth quarter. Michelle Millet putthe Lady Rebels ahead by drawing a foul while driving to the basket and hitting both free throws with 7:10 remaining.

Both teams would struggle offensively in the quarter with Millet hitting three of six free throws over the next five minutes to build the lead to 37-32. Three possessions later Crystal Rome avoided being fouled andfound Heather Montz open underneath to give Riverside a seven-point lead with 25 seconds left.

St. Charles Catholic got its first point of the quarter as Marci Martin wasfouled and hit the second of two free throws with 18 seconds left. Romecame back with a free throw of her own to make it 40-33 with 13 seconds remaining. Krista Danos buried a 3-pointer from the top of the arc on theLady Comets’ ensuing possession with four seconds left but Ashley Bourgeois came back with another free throw with under a second left.

The victory was the Lady Rebels’ seventh in nine games decided by five points or less this season, and Riverside coach John McMillan said his team’s experience in close games played a factor down the stretch.

“We are doing a great job this year of winning close games,” McMillan said. “They are just finding a way. The fact that we have played so manyclose games was in our favor tonight. Confidence had a lot to do with it. Iam incredibly proud. Both teams played their hearts out tonight.”St. Charles Catholic coach Jeff Montz said Riverside did a good job ofpreventing his team from going down into the post.

“We had a good plan on what to do, we just didn’t do a good enough job of execution,” Montz said. “But I give them credit. They did what they neededto do down the stretch. They contained some things we wanted to do andmade some big stops in defense. That is why they are where they are. “I thought both teams played with a lot of heart and courage. Both teamsplayed hard. It was a good ballgame. I am proud of the girls.”St. Charles Catholic trailed 25-24 at halftime but opened the second halfwith a 6-0 run. Liz Dufresne gave the Lady Comets the lead with a jumperfrom the left arc and Jennifer Pollet followed with one from the same spot a possession later. A put back by Martin gave the Lady Comets a 30-25 lead with 4:28 left in the quarter.

Rome answered for the Lady Rebels with a 3-pointer from the top of the key on the ensuing possession. A put back by Millet tied the score at 30with 2:37 remaining. Danos found Shannon Dolive inside on the LadyComets’ next possession but Millet came back by rebounding her missed free throw and driving down the lane to tie the score. Both teams would goscoreless over the final 1:30 of the quarter.

Millet had 14 of her game-high 23 points as the Lady Rebels jumped out to a 24-23 lead at the break. Rome added 10 points for the Lady Rebels.Martin also had a productive first half, scoring 10 of her team-high 13 points in the first 16 minutes. Dufresne added nine points with Dolivetossing in six.

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