MICHAEL KIRAL

RESERVE – Friday’s Riverside-West St. John game was decided at the free throw line. Riverside attempted 46 free throws, converting 31 of them, while West St. John was 4-of-21 from the charity stripe. That was the difference as the Lady Rebels hung on for a 55-42 victory in District 9-2A play. Riverside moved into a second-place tie with Newman at 4-1 in district and 12-8 overall. The Lady Rebels host the Greenies tonight. West St. John fell to 2-3 in district. “Every basketball team stresses free throws,” Riverside head coach Matt White said. “That’s a part of the game you have to be good at.” Crystal Rome made 28-of-34 free throws in finishing with a game-high 34 points. Amy Hymel added eight points and Jessica Watts six for the Lady Rebels. Keyen Weber scored 20 points for West St. John, hitting six 3-pointers. Janell Morris had seven points and Tana Mitchell and Taryn Pierce five apiece. West St. John, which had trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter, cut the deficit to four early in the fourth quarter. The Lady Rams held Riverside scoreless over the first three minutes while Weber hit a 3-pointer from the right wing and Pierce drove in, making it 41-37 with five minutes left. Watts and Rome hit two free throws apiece to build the lead back to seven with 4:17 left. But Weber came back with her sixth 3-pointer of the game from the left side, making it 45-41 with four minutes remaining. But that would be the last field goal of the game for the Lady Rams. Riverside closed on a 10-1 run as Rome hit 8-of-10 free throws and drove in for a layup. “We went into a stall and were able to get the ball into our best player’s hands and let them chase her,” White said. “It was a big win for us tonight.” Riverside led 30-19 at halftime and took a 34-19 lead early in the third quarter on a layup by Hymel and a jumper by Wendy Reames. West St. John cut the deficit to 10 as Ciara Borne scored off a steal by Mitchell and Weber buried a 3-pointer from the right corner. A pass from Borne to Morris inside made it 35-26. Weber knocked down another 3-pointer from the right wing and Borne took a steal in to bring the Lady Rams to within eight with less than a minute to play. But Rome came back with two free throws in the final seconds to make it 41-31 going into the fourth quarter. West St. John got a jumper and a put back from Morris and layups by Pierce, Weber and Mitchell to take an early 10-4 lead. Riverside came back to tie it at 10 as Rome hit 4-of-5 free throws. A jumper by Watts from the left side gave the Lady Rebels their first lead with 2:16 left. Watts hit another jumper with five seconds left to make it 16-11 at the end of the opening quarter. A pass from Reames to Hymel inside helped the Lady Rebels take a 19-11 lead in the early going of the second quarter. Weber buried 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to bring the Lady Rams to within 22-19 with 2:53 left in the half. But the Lady Rebels answered with an 8-0 to close out the half. Hymel scored on a put back and Rome drove in twice to make it 30-19 at the break.