By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

After two losses in pool play of the Battle on the Bayou tournament to St. Scholastica on Sunday and St. Joseph’s on Tuesday, Riverside rebounded on Tuesday night to defeat Grace King, 44-21 at the Alario Center.

The win allowed the Lady Rebels to advance in the third place bracket of the tournament’s Silver Division.

Brittany Schoen scored 15 to lead Riverside (1-4) in the win. Jessica Price added nine, and Marci Millet scored eight.

Riverside Coach Kristy Hebert credited improvement across the board as reason for the win, particularly on offense where the Rebels struggled in their four losses.

“We had been struggling with our shooting,” said Hebert. “We finally executed. The offense showed up and our defense held up well.”

Riverside led 8-4 after one quarter and 17-8 at halftime. Hebert said that despite the lead, her team appeared lackluster in the first half. This was not the case once the second half got underway – Riverside outscored Grace King 27-13 in the second half to establish a firm lead.

“They were going through the motions in the first half, and I lit into them a little bit at halftime,” Hebert said. “They came out with a spurt in the third quarter and it set the tempo for the rest of the half.

Earlier in the day, Riverside fell to St. Joseph’s (2-2), 68-33. The Rebels trailed by 20 at halftime and were not able to get on track.

“They shot it exceptionally from the outside,” said Hebert. “It seemed like they didn’t miss a shot.”

Schoen led the team with 14 points. Sarah Levin scored 13.

On Sunday, Riverside saw a second half rally fall short against St. Scholastica, who won 42-33.

St. Scholastica opened the game on a 14-1 run to set the Rebels back on their heels.

But Riverside was able to cut the lead to two in the third quarter after trailing 25-11 at halftime. Riverside outscored St. Scholastica 19-9 in the third quarter and trailed 34-30 entering the fourth quarter.

But the Rebels could only muster three points in the final quarter, and St. Scholastica was able to hold on.

“We played hard from the beginning and never gave up,” said Schoen. “We’ve been struggling hitting our layups and free throws.”

Levin led the team with 10 points. Millet scored seven and Schoen scored six.