Riverside girls start fast to stop Freedom-South Riding, 43-32

Riverside came out ready to play Monday night against Freedom-South Riding, scoring early and often and frustrating the Eagles with an effective full court press. The host Rams raced to a 13-2 lead and were up 19-4 after a quarter. They never looked back.

Freedom to its credit slowly battled back in the second quarter to cut the lead to single digits at half, tightening up its defense and using its size advantage in the post to get better looks at the rim. But the Rams started the second half as hot as they did the first, scoring the first 11 points of the third quarter. That 20-point lead was too much for the methodical Eagles to overcome.

When Riverside (4-1) scored, Freedom generally had a difficult time getting past the active, tall guards of the Rams. The Eagles did break the Rams’ press occasionally for lay-ups, but far more often succumbed to ten-second violations or had the ball stolen.

“That’s our plan, to speed up the other team and get them to make some turnovers and get some quick baskets,” said Riverside Head Coach Sarah Wetmore. “We liked the matchup we had up top with our guards and our length.”

Freedom’s zone did a good job extending out to the Rams’ potent three-point shooters, but Riverside’s stars still managed to do significant damage. Kaylie Avvisato led the way with 13 points, while fellow junior Ella Mahaffey added eight points and four assists. When Mahaffey gets assists, they are often to Avvisato, as demonstrated in the play below.

Lindsay Almonte and Casey Weeren added seven points apiece, with Almonte hitting two big threes and Weeren doing most of her damage in the first half. It wasn’t the greatest offensive performance by those four–but it didn’t have to be as their defense was superb.

Freedom (1-2) got nice support from its bench (18 points) and never quit despite the Riverside runs at the start of both halves. Grace Farrar led the way for the Eagles with eight points and six boards, while Avery Strohecker added seven and five off the bench.

–Chris Jollay

all stats are unofficial