By Michael Kiral / L’Observateur / January 23, 1998

EDGARD – The Riverside Lady Rebels avenged a loss earlier this season toWest St. John with a 54-47 victory Friday night.

Jennifer Guidry had one of her best games of the season, leading the LadyRebels with 20 points. Melissa Martin tossed in 13 points, while MichelleMillet chipped in with 11.

The Lady Rams were paced by Ireon Bethancourt’s 12 points, all of whichcame in the second half as West St. John battled back from a 13-pointfirst half deficit to close to within one in the fourth quarter. CrystalStipe added 11 points, while Kenyatta Boudoin contributed nine pointsinside.

Riverside improved to 3-1 in District 9-2A and 12-10 overall with thevictory. West St. John fell to 10-6 overall and 1-3 in district play.West St. John had knocked off the Lady Rebels, 48-43, in the Lady RebelsClassic in December but saw Riverside jump out to a 35-26 halftime leadFriday evening.

The Lady Rams began their rally as Bethancourt and Crystal Stipe buriedjump shots to open the second half. After a timeout by Riverside and ajump shot by Guidry, Bethancourt hit another jumper to cut the deficit to37-32.

Four possessions later, Kimiko Gauthier grabbed a steal and passed toBethancourt, who found Hillary Howard underneath for a layup. DonyellStipe then was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer, hitting two of thethree free throws to bring the Lady Rams to within 37-36. Guidryanswered with a jumper to give the Lady Rebels a 39-36 lead heading intothe fourth quarter.

Howard found Crystal Stipe underneath the basket on the inbounds pass tobring the Lady Rams back to within one with 6:30 left in the fourth. ButRiverside then responded with a 14-2 run over the next four minutes.Martin opened the run by grabbing a rebound and passing to Milletdowncourt for a layup. Martin followed with a steal along the left baselineand took it in to give the Rebels a five-point lead. On the Lady Rams’ensuing possession, Martin grabbed a steal under the West St. John basketand passed to Crystal Rome at midcourt. Rome relayed the pass to Guidrydowncourt who laid it up, giving the Lady Rebels a 45-38 lead.

After two free throws by Bethancourt, Millet and Guidry scored inside tobuild the lead to 49-40 with 3:35 left. Ashley Bourgeois and Hannah Hobdythen added four free throws as Riverside grabbed its biggest lead of thehalf at 53-40. Bethancourt scored six points down the stretch to bringWest St. John to within six at the buzzer.

Riverside opened the game on a 12-2 run. Martin buried a 3-pointer thenput back a missed free throw by Millet to give the Lady Rebels a 8-2 lead.Guidry followed with a jump shot and Millet found Martin for anotherjumper to increase the lead to 12-2 with 4:24 remaining.

West St. John closed to with seven on a three-point play by Boudoin beforeRiverside answered with baskets by Hobdy and Millet. Guidry then grabbeda steal and dumped a pass off to Rome underneath the basket to give theLady Rebels their biggest lead of the game at 20-7.

The Lady Rams rallied as Donyell Stipe grabbed a steal and took it in forlayup. Then as the clock was ticking down, Crystal Stipe found Boudoinopen downcourt for a layup, cutting the Lady Rebels’ lead to 20-11 at theend of the first quarter.

The rally continued into the second quarter as Crystal Stipe buried a 3-pointer from the right side. Gauthier followed with a put back to cut thedeficit to 22-18.

Riverside bounced back with jump shots by Millet and Guidry. After a jumpshot by Julia Roussell, Guidry hit a free throw and drove in for a layup toincrease the advantage back to 29-20. Martin added a layup and Guidryfollowed with another jump shot to give the Lady Rebels a 35-26 lead atthe break.

“Mentally, we weren’t very sharp tonight,” Riverside coach John McMillansaid. “On the positive side, despite playing sloppy we were able to hang onand win the game. In district, winning on the road is very important tomaking the playoffs. I was happy with the outcome.”

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