The Three Rivers College women's basketball team got to avenge one of its two Region 16 losses over the weekend against State Fair.
Wednesday night, the Lady Raiders avenged their other region loss as they pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 70-49 win over the Mineral Area Lady Cardinals at the Libla Family Sports Complex.
With the win, Three Rivers (20-4, 6-2 Region 16) moves into a first-place tie with the Lady Cardinals in the region standings, a fact Three Rivers coach Alex Wiggs said was "huge."
"I think they stepped up to the challenge I challenged them because we were in this situation at Mineral Area — and Mineral Area came back and beat us (up there)," Wiggs said. "We were in this situation against State Fair and we were in this against Trinity Valley (and lost both). So it's like 'Hey, we've been in these situations and we've learned from them — and now it's time to step and make those winning plays down the stretch to prove that we're capable.'"
The Lady Raiders led by just six points (42-36) going to the fourth quarter and saw that lead cut to three early in the fourth, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Amiya "the Microwave" Johnson pushed the lead to 48-39 with 8:18 left in the game. Three Rivers then extended its lead to 55-39 on back-to-back baskets by Da'Kariya Jackson midway through the final period as the Lady Raiders finally grabbed control of the contest.
"I felt like we ended the quarter really well," Wiggs said. "We started the first really well, but then Mineral (Area) ended the first really well. Then I felt like the we ended that second quarter really well and gave us that momentum going into halftime."
Three Rivers used an 8-0 run late in the first half to grab the lead going to the locker room. Samari Taylor's free throws with 1:45 left in the half made it 28-26 in favor of TRC, then Kiera Neal took the feed from Jasmine Davis to make it 30-26 just 35 seconds later. Mya Davidson's layup with 45 seconds before halftime capped the run and made it 32-26.
Jackson paced the Lady Raiders with 18 points, while Alexia Weaver added 13. Davis and Amiya Johnson each finished with nine points
Three Rivers is back in action Saturday when it heads to Hillsboro to take on Jefferson. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
"They're a good team — very well-coached team," Wiggs said, "and we've got to make sure that we prepare the next two days and get ready to go for Jeffco."
Mike Buhler - Daily American Republic