PATCH GROVE – Without their top scorer in Meagan Herrick, the River Ridge varsity girls’ basketball team suffered its first conference loss of the season last Saturday against visiting Belmont.
Herrick, who missed two games to recover from a concussion, could only sit on the bench while the visiting Braves pulled out a 38-30 overtime upset on Saturday.
With the loss, coach Caron Townsend’s squad fell to 5-1 in the Six Rivers West conference, and 13-2 overall. The Timberwolves still, however, remain one win ahead of the Braves (5-2).
With both teams getting off to a slow start, Belmont held a 3-2 lead after one quarter of play, then outscored the home Wolves, 14-7 in the second quarter to claim a 17-9 halftime lead.
Coach Townsend’s squad came storming back in the third, and trailed just 22-19 going into the fourth.
It didn’t take long for the Timberwolves to take a lead, their biggest being at three points late in the contest.
But in the final 50 seconds River Ridge was unable to put the game away, and made just 2-of-8 free throw attempts, which allowed Belmont an opportunity to even the score and send the game into overtime.
Going into the overtime, River Ridge was also without sophomore sensation Bridgette Myers, who fouled out late in the fourth quarter.
The Timberwolves were outscored 9-1 in the overtime session, and made just 1-of-4 free throw attempts.
On the night, coach Townsend’s squad was 5-of-17 (29%) from the charity stripe. They were also 12-of-41 (29%) from the field, including 1-of-7 (14%) from beyond the 3-point arc.
Junior forward Roni Zinkle led the team with eight points, while fellow junior Johanna Allen added seven and senior Sabrina White six.
Allen also pulled down seven rebounds and had four of her team’s 14 steals, while Myers dished out four assists to go along with four points.
Last Thursday night, the Timberwolves scored a 41-33 victory over visiting Benton/Shullsburg, who fell to 2-4 in league play with the loss.
The Timberwolves held an 11-1 lead after one quarter, then took a 25-13 lead into the fourth quarter.
With Herrick sitting out, Myers poured in a team-high 13 points to go along with six steals and three assists.
Allen was close behind with 10 points, while White had nine and Patterson six.
Patterson also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
In the game, coach Townsend’s squad made 13-of-34 (38%) field goal attempts, including 2-of-4 (50%) from downtown. They were 13-of-21 (62%) from the free throw line, committed 21 turnovers, and had 16 team steals.
Following this past Tuesday night’s road game at Potosi, the Timberwolves will travel to Belmont on Friday night, then to Benton/Shullsburg next Tuesday.
River Ridge 41,
Benton/Shullsburg 33
(from Thursday, Feb. 6)
B/S 1 6 6 20 - 33
River Ridge 11 8 6 16 - 41
Benton/Shullsburg - Burmeister 3, S. Redfearn 10, B. Redfearn 2, H. Morrissey 6, Doughtery 4, E. Morrissey 8. Totals - 11 9-13 33.
River Ridge - Myers 13, Zinkle 1, White 9, Allen 10, Patterson 6, Plondke 2. Totals - 13 13-21 41.
3-point goals - B/S: S. Redfearn 1, H. Morrissey 1; RR: White 2. Team fouls - B/S 14, RR 16. Fouled out - None.
Belmont 38,
River Ridge 30 (OT)
(from Saturday, Feb. 8)
Belmont 3 14 5 7 9 - 38
River Ridge 2 7 10 10 1 - 30
Belmont - deHaan 4,Riechers 3, K. Kamps 15, Klein 1, J. Kamps 8, Nolan 7. Totals - 10 18-27 38.
River Ridge - Bridgette Myers 4, Roni Zinkle 8, Sabrina White 6, Johanna Allen 7, Amber Patterson 4, Emma Mergan 1. Totals - 12 5-17 30.
3-point goals - B: None; RR: White 1. Team fouls - B 15, RR 20. Fouled out - Schobert (B), Patterson (RR), Myers (RR).
