The Riverside girls’ basketball team took a tough loss on the road Tuesday night against a tough AHSTW Lady Vikes team. The Bulldogs came in 1-0 after defeating Essex last week 50-13. The start looked very similar for the Bulldogs as they jumped to a fast 4-0 lead after two quick layups by Madison Kelley and Elly Henderson. The quick start made AHSTW girls head coach Jason McCall calls a timeout and sub a whole new five girls on to the floor just 1 minute and 34 seconds into the opening quarter. And it was the exact move that the Lady Vikes needed to wake up and bring some energy and life to the basketball floor. The Lady Vikes then went on a 16-1 run where they got sophomore guard Halle Goodman to hit three triples in the first half to spark the Lady Vikes. The Bulldogs had no answer for the Lady Vikes second unit and then AHSTW starters like Delaney Goshorn got going offensively and the Lady Vikes never looked back from there. Head Coach of Riverside Girls Mitch Rice said the complete 5 in and 5 out sub that AHSTW made was the difference in the game.

The Bulldogs would make some runs and get the score close but could never get over the hump. Their best chance came late in the first half they cut the lead to 24-21 but in the final minute the Lady Vikes got a layup by Goshorn followed by a steal and pullup three ball by Graycen Partlow to push the lead right back to 8 and keep the Lady Vikes in control. In the fourth quarter Riverside began rushing some possessions offensively trying to get back into the game and settled for some low percentage shots. The Bulldogs scored just two points in the fourth quarter both coming from the free throw line. The Bulldogs shot 0-9 in the quarter to suffer their first loss of the season.

Head Coach Mitch Rice knows this is a game he and his young team can learn from and get better moving forward.