Riverside girls blow lead, fall to West St. John 37-33

Published 12:00 am Monday, February 7, 2005

Riverside outscored 26-12 in second half, fall to .500 in district play

BY DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

RESERVE-These are the types of games that you cannot let slip away.

In a game that they thought they steal a victory, the Riverside girls basketball team fell to West St. John on Tuesday night 37-33.

Jada Fiffie led the Lady Rams with 20 points and Jena Elfer led the Lady Rebels with 10 points.

The win drops Riverside to 8-13 on the season and 5-5 in district 10-2A play.

West St. John improves to 9-6 on the season and 7-2 in district 10-2A play.

Outscored 13-10 in the third quarter and 13-11 in the final period, Riverside head coach Jody LeBlanc said his team let this one slip through their fingers.

“We should have won the ballgame,” LeBlanc said. “With two minutes left in the game we were up, but we just turned the ball over three consecutive trips down the court. That made us start fouling at the end to just try and get the ball back.

“We put ourselves in a situation to win the ballgame. We just didn’t capitalize on it. We just made some careless mistakes.”

LeBlanc said his team has struggled throughout the season with the same kind of mistakes.

“It’s the inexperience and lack of playing,” LeBlanc said. “Our kids just don’t have a lot of experience in playing the game of basketball.

“We are still 5-5 in district play. We still have a shot. If we win our two games or even just go 6-6 we have a shot at the playoffs. That is our goal right now. We just want to make it into the playoffs. Then anything can happen.”