Lady Mustangs fight off stubborn Riverside 54-44

Buffalo Island Central fought off a pesky Riverside team that was playing shorthanded because of illness, and came away with a hard fought 54-44 2A-3 conference victory Thursday night at Lake City.

The Lady Rebels, who were playing without post players Lauren Weaver and Gattlin Hale, battled the defending conference champions throughout the game before running out of steam in the second half.

"Riverside played a really good game tonight," said BIC Coach Stan Fowler. "I know Riverside missed Weaver tonight and really Kenzley (Wilson) was still under the weather, but they really came to play tonight. I thought our depth wore them down in the second half. I probably should have played my bench a little more, but we did sit our starters some in the first half so they were pretty fresh in the second half of play. It was a tough game and I'm just glad to get out of here with a win."

"We battled them real good, especially in the first half, but we had that dry spell in the third quarter that really hurt us," said Riverside Coach Jeff Womack. "We were only down two at the half, but we went cold from the field and they stretched their lead to 13 four minutes into the third quarter. We went two for 16 on three point shots on the night and you aren't going to win many games shooting like that. I thought we played well. We penetrated and got good shots. We just couldn't get anything to fall. We took care of the ball and rebounded well, but when it's all said and done, if you can't put the ball in the hole you aren't going to win. Right now we are just trying to get healthy. It's been a long first part of the season, but I'd rather go through this now than later on."

Brittany Fowler led the Lady Mustangs with a game high 24 points while Emily Owens chipped in 10. Katelyn Sparkman scored seven, Cassidy Qualls tallied six, Madison Greathouse had three while Brittany Stockton and Shania Junyor added two points apiece to round out the Lady Mustang scoring attack.

Kenzley Wilson led Riverside with 20 points while Anna Brickell added 10 more. Catlyn Sailor and Natalie Milligan scored four points apiece while Ashlyn Snyder and Chelsea Nichols pitched in two points each for the Lady Rebels.

BIC pulled away in the second half to take a 29-15 victory over Riverside in the junior girls game. The Lady Mustangs held a slim 5-4 edge after the opening period before Riverside came back to take an 8-5 lead into the dressing room at the half. The Lady Mustangs outscored Riverside 17-4 in the third period to grab a 22-12 lead entering the final frame.

Blaire Wildy led BIC with 13 points. Kayla Griffin scored seven, Sadie Lawson netted four, Ashley Field and Jonna Carmichael tallied two points apiece for the Lady Mustangs while Nikki Gordon added one point.

Skylar Kauke and Madison Black led Riverside with four points apiece. Britany Kelems, Cassidy Hellenthal and Jennifer Hellenthal all scored two points each while McKenna Beach added one.

Riverside will return to action Monday night when they travel to Black Rock to take on the Lady Zebras. The Lady Rebels will take a break for the holidays before participating in the Gerald Jennings Tournament beginning Nov. 26 at Armorel.

The Lady Mustangs return to the hardcourt Monday night when they play host to Midland before returning to action Nov. 26 for the White County Invitational Tournament.