The Riverside girls basketball team is on a drive for the section title. Yesterday, there was one obstacle: Neshannock’s powerful team. However, the Lady Panthers thrashed Neshannock 55-34 in a home game, putting them a half-step ahead in their Class-AA section rankings.
Although victory is often expected among a team with a 15-2 record, the girls went into the game knowing Neshannock would be tough competition. Back in December, Neshannock handed Riverside its first taste of defeat in a 51-39 game away game.
Riverside would steamroll through eight wins before experiencing their second loss against Beaver Falls on Thursday. The defeat didn’t discourage the Lady Panthers though.
“After struggling at Beaver Falls, we bounced back in a huge way,” head coach John Wolf said. “Of course, that is a trait that will serve them well in life.”
Going onto their home court yesterday, Riverside was prepared. Indeed, they never let Neshannock get the lead.
The first half of the game saw both teams playing close, rarely making mistakes and pressing their advantages. Yet Riverside pulled ahead 24-16 by half time. In the second half, the Lady Panthers had reached a heightened state while Neshannock struggled to coordinate an offense.
“Overall, the difference in this game as opposed to our trip to Neshannock was the defense we played all night,” Wolf said. “The girls really came out and played a great game on defense and that helped our offense.”
Riverside’s Katie Stang was the overall high scorer with 23 points, including two three-pointers. Stang also had six assists. Jordan Annarumo made three three-point shots and a two-point field goal that brought her score to 11. Also scoring for Riverside were Morgan Bailey, nine, Sydney Wolf, five, Ashley Boehm, four, and Natalie Bologna, three. Only three of Riverside’s points were from free throws.
For the Lancer’s, Alexandria Zarilla was the high scorer with eight, followed by Aiden Noga with six.
Riverside is now 8-2 in their conference and Neshannock is 7-2. In third place is Mohawk with a 6-3 record. The Lady Panthers travel to Mohawk on Thursday.
“We know Neshannock is a very good team, and we are happy to get this one behind us and move on to our next challenge at Mohawk,” Wolf said.
Box Score
Stats courtesy of MaxPreps and recorded by John Wolf.
| Neshannock | 8 | 8 | 13 | 5 | 34 |
| Riverside | 10 | 14 | 19 | 12 | 55 |
| Points | FG-A | 3FG-A | FT-A | Off | Def | Ast | Stls | TO | Blk | PF | |
| Jordan Annarumo (Sr) | 11 | 4-5 | 3-3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Sydney Wolf (So) | 5 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Ashley Boehm (Sr) | 4 | 2-5 | 0-3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Abbey Matiko (Sr) | 0 | 0-4 | 0-3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Katie Stang (Sr) | 23 | 10-15 | 2-6 | 1-1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | |
| Natalie Bologna (Fr) | 3 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Morgan Bailey (Sr) | 9 | 4-7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
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