PATCH GROVE — The eighth-ranked River Ridge varsity girls’ basketball team has undoubtedly been playing some very good ball this season.
     Thursday night the undefeated Timberwolves sent notice to everyone else in the Six Rivers beating visiting Potosi, 51–29.
     With the win, coach Caron Townsend’s squad improved to 2–0 in league play and 8–0 overall, while the Chieftains dropped to 4–4 overall and 1–1 in conference play.
     The host Timberwolves held a slight lead of 20–16 at the half, but then outscored the Chieftains 13–2 in the third quarter to take a 36–18 lead into the fourth.
     River Ridge coach Townsend acknowledged that it wasn’t necessarily any adjustments her team had made at halftime that led to a big third quarter.
     “We’re pretty predictable,” Townsend said. “We teach our girls procedures, and no matter what anybody does to us, we stick to those procedures. We don’t really change our strategy much.
     “On defense we caused quite a few turnovers. We caused 20 total turnovers, a lot of those came in the third quarter. Bridgette (Myers) had quite a few steals in that quarter, and Sabrina  (White) kind of came alive in that quarter too.”
     “We just couldn’t get the ball to fall through the hoop,” said Potosi head coach Brad Bierman. “They are a very good defensive team, the best in our conference and probably the best in the area. We felt pretty good only being down four at the half on their home court, but we shot just 1 of 10 in the third quarter and were outscored 13–2 and that was it.”
     River Ridge’s momentum carried over into the final eight minutes, where the Timberwolves outscored the Chieftains, 18–11.
     Ridge senior guard Megan Herrick hit a pair of 3-pointers and followed up by making 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch. Herrick finished the game with 21 points and six rebounds, both team highs for River Ridge.
     White added 12 points to the win, and according to coach Townsend, the team’s success in the last few games has a lot to do with White, who has scored in double figures during their recent stretch.
     Junior forward Johanna Allen chipped in five points and six rebounds, while Myers had five assists and five steals to go along with four points.
     As a team, River Ridge made 18 of 45 (40 percent) field goal attempts. They were 12 of 18 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line, including 7 of 12 (58.3 percent) in the fourth.
     Conversely Potosi shot just 26 percent (11 of 42) for the game.
     The Timberwolves had 12 total steals and committed 15 turnovers to Potosi’s 20.
     Sophomore guard Maddie Hawes scored a team-high 12 points and had three assists to pace Potosi. Fellow sophomore Mackenzie Brown added six points and six rebounds in the loss.
     Monday night Potosi blew a 31–21 halftime lead and dropped a 60–51 non-conference decision at East Dubuque.
Four-year starting guards Michaela Marty and Kalyn Theill combined to score 30 of ED’s 39 second-half points to spur the comeback win.
     Theill made six free throws and scored nine of her 20 points in the third quarter as East Dubuque (8–3) outscored Potosi (4–5) 20–7 in the period to take a 41–38 lead.
     Potosi regained a brief 42–41 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Marty drained back-to-back 3-pointers and scored 10 of her 25 points in the final eight minutes to rally the Warriors.
     “We played as well as we have all season in the first half, but it just got away from us there in the third quarter,” said Bierman.
     Brown posted a monster double–double of 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead Potosi.
     Calie Gibson added 15 points and eight rebounds, and Hawes chipped in 12 points and five assists.
Potosi will return to action Thursday at home against Cassville (0–6, 0–2 SRW).

River Ridge 51, Potosi 29
(from Thursday, Jan. 9 @ Patch Grove)
Potosi               9     7     2     11     —  29
River Ridge    14    6    13    18     —  51
Potosi (4–4, 1–1) — Maddie Hawes 12, Mackenzie Brown 6, Calie Gibson 4, Liz Reuter 5, Kelly Bode 2. Totals — 11 5-11 29.
River Ridge (8–0, 2–0) — Myers 4, Zinkle 2, White 12, Allen 5, Herrick 21, Cliff 1, Mergen 2, Patterson 4. Totals — 18 12-18 51.
3-point goals —  P: 2 (Hawes 2); RR: 3 (Herrick 2, White 1). Team fouls — P: 12, RR: 15. Fouled out — P: Brown. Technical fouls — P: bench.

East Dubuque 60, Potosi 51
(from Monday, Jan. 13 @ Potosi)
East Dubuque    11    10    20    19     —  60
Potosi                 14    17     7    13     —  51
East Dubuque (8–3) — Theill 20, Johnson 3, Marty 25, Hayes 7, Berryman 5. Totals — 20 13-18 60.
Potosi (4–5) — Maddie Hawes 12, Paige Brinkman 5, Mackenzie Brown 19, Calie Gibson 15. Totals — 16 18-26 51.
3-point goals —  ED: 7 (Theill 3, Johnson 1, Marty 3); P: 1 (Gibson 1). Team fouls — ED: 23, P: 16. Fouled out — P: Hawes.