By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

At halftime of her team’s game with Reserve Christian on Monday, Riverside Coach Kristy Hebert’s message to her starters was clear: start finishing plays, or somebody else will.

The message got through loud and clear.

Riverside blew open a one point halftime lead with a 13-0 run in the third quarter, and the Rebels picked up their first win of the season, 41-21 at Reserve.

The Rebels (1-9) led 16-15 at halftime, but couldn’t find an offensive rhythm, much in part to a number of missed shots in the lane.

“I just told them, especially my bigs, we had way too many misses underneath,” said Hebert. “If we put half of those in, we’d have a 10 point lead. So I said ‘you make the decision.’ Put it in, or I’ll find somebody who will.”

After a Kelly Crews jumper gave Reserve a 17-16 lead to begin the third quarter, the Rebels took off. Jill Blanchard made a shot to give Riverside the lead right back. A Megan Malik shot underneath made it 21-17. A 3-pointer by Lauren Doyle extended the lead to seven. Malik again hit in the lane, and Doyle followed with her second three pointer of the quarter to make it 29-17 at the end of the third.

“Coach got on us in the locker room. We knew we had to step up,” said Doyle.

Reserve’s Kelsey Joseph broke the Riverside string in the fourth quarter with a basket, but Heather LeBlanc answered right back with a deep 2-pointer. Daysha Blount hit a shot for RCS that cut the Rebel lead to 12, but the Riverside defense dug in and allowed no more Reserve points. The Rebels ended the game on an 8-0 run that included three buckets by Malik.

Hebert said it was important to get a win for the team’s confidence, particularly to begin a busy week of play.

“It’s awesome,” said Doyle of the team’s first win. “I’m excited.”

Doyle scored a game high 13. Malik scored 12. LeBlanc added nine.

Blount and Jamie Boldin scored five to lead RCS. Joseph and Raven Campbell added four apiece.

Reserve Coach Richard Englander said he felt the Rebels run to begin the second half knocked the wind out of his team.

“It was deflating,” said Englander. “We stopped executing, and just lost focus on our fundamentals. Riverside stepped up. We’ve got to learn to play 32 minutes at full speed.”

Reserve (2-8) fell over the weekend to H.L. Bourgeois, 40-16.

Blount scored five points to lead Reserve. Bourgeois led 12-5 at halftime.