By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RIVER RIDGE — John Curtis standout Kolby Morgan found herself in foul trouble and out of sync in the first meeting between defending Class 2A  champion Curtis and district rival Riverside this season. But she was in top form on Friday night.

Morgan scored 32 points and her Patriots sealed up the outright District 10-2A championship via a 65-50 victory over Riverside.

“I felt more at home tonight,” said Charles, noting both her previous foul trouble and the big Curtis crowd in attendance. “My shot wasn’t falling early, so I tried to get into the lane and set up my teammates. After that I stayed aggressive and the opportunities were there.”

Curtis (19-7, 7-0) led by seven entering the final frame and opened things up from there, much like in the first meeting between the teams. The Patriots led by as many as 18 and held Riverside (20-9, 6-2) to three made field goals in the final period.

“Turnovers hurt us in a big way,” said Riverside coach Kristy Hebert. “The girls played hard all night and I was proud of how they fought. There were just some things that worked early on that we didn’t stay with on a consistent basis. We turned it over and they got their fast break going to pull away.”

Curtis coach Barbara Farris said that Morgan’s patience against a variety of Riverside defenses designed to limit her production shows the senior’s maturity as a player.

“She has a high basketball IQ,” said Farris. “Most players would get frustrated with someone on her like a gnat all night in a box-and-one or triangle-and-two (defense). But she understands that the best way to get them out of it is for others to start hitting shots.”

Tia Charles scored 24 to compliment Morgan’s big night.

Riverside’s Kendra Turner kept Riverside in the game for much of the night via her interior scoring. She finished with 23. Toni Hebert scored 10 and Channan Simmons added nine for the Rebels.

Curtis led by 16 in the first half, but Riverside made a run to close the gap. A Simmons 3-pointer made it 34-26, then another Simmons jumper and a putback by Jaimaya Bolden cut the Curtis lead to 34-28 to end the first half.

“One thing I’ll say about Riverside is they don’t quit,” said Farris. “They’re talented, they want it and they’re gonna make runs. We knew they weren’t going to miss shots all night.”

Riverside scored the first four points on the second half on back-to-back inside buckets by Turner and Bolden. Turner scored eight points in the third to keep Riverside in the game.

“(Turner) played well,” said Hebert. “She rebounded well and was a lot more productive this time against them. I thought we didn’t get it inside enough, to be honest.”

But two big baskets by Curtis late gave the Patriots a seven-point advantage headed into the fourth — a 3-pointer by Charles off a Morgan assist, then Morgan’s own basket off a pretty spin-move just as time expired.

Charles pushed the lead to nine behind two free throws. The Rebels were whistled for a technical, and Morgan made one of two before a Charles bucket made it 51-39. Morgan and Charles each scored layups off of turnovers and the Curtis lead ballooned to 15.

“We tried to stop them from getting it inside to (Turner),” said Morgan. “When they made mistakes we pushed the ball and focused on finishing our fast break opportunities.”

Riverside struggled to make free throws in the final period, missing five straight at one point, and couldn’t climb back into the game.

Both teams will learn their playoff matchups this week. Riverside concluded its regular season Monday at Hosanna Christian. That game was played after presstime.