After an uneasy tuneup, the Lady Raiders rolled in the Region XVI opener. Three Rivers College, which had an up and down game Monday, improved its winning streak to 13 games with a 78-44 victory over Mineral Area on Saturday at the Bess Activity Center. "We flat guarded tonight," Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said. "Every time they were going to make a pass we were there." The Lady Raiders held Mineral Area to one field goal over the first 8 minutes. Mineral Area's Olivia White banked in a close shot off an assist from Shelby Moon, and then the Lady Cardinals went begging until Makenzy Smith sank a jumper. They also had one free throw during that stretch.

The Lady Raiders (15-2, 1-0 Region XVI) built an eight-point lead during the drought and tacked on three late buckets to go ahead 13 by the end of the first quarter. That increased to 18 by the half and the Lady Cardinals didn't threaten a comeback in the second. "I've been looking forward to this game for about a year," Walk said. "Whether it's one point or 34, in March, it's just a W." Ge'Naisha Robinson led the Lady Raiders with 18 points on 8 for 11 shooting. Michael Everhart added 15 points after going 4 for 8 on 3-pointers. Mineral Area shot 16 for 60 in the game, and nine of those buckets were 3-pointers. "Good stat line all the way through," Walk said. Saturday was also the first game at the Bess Activity Center for Neelyville alumna Moon and Greenville alumna Smith. With the Neelyville boys playing Ellington prior to the Lady Raider game, there was significantly more maroon in the stands than usual. Moon started and earned six points and three assists over 25 minutes for Mineral Area (8-7, 0-1). Smith came off the bench for six points and four rebounds over 13 minutes. Both are averaging around to 5 points a game this season. "It was so crazy seeing everybody in the crowd," Smith said. "When I went in for the first time, I could hear my whole family cheering me on. That meant a lot to me."

Olivia Crane opened the second quarter with a 3 and Dominika Skrocka answered with one for the Lady Cardinals. Then Crane made another a couple minutes later before heading to the bench for a rest. Both teams went to the 3-pointer in the second quarter. Crane had two, Everhart had two and Moon had two. Camdyn McDaniel sank one from the Gene Bess signature, and the Lady Raiders were up 18 at the half. Everhart continued Three Rivers' outside shooting with another 3 on the Lady Raiders' first possession. A minute later, she was fouled on a 3, but made two of those free throws. Three Rivers continued to press and line change with its deep bench as the lead swelled to more than 20 points. Robinson had consecutive layups off steals midway through the third quarter. Joya Smith then earned a putback after a third straight steal that also put the Lady Raiders ahead by 30.

Three Rivers had 31 points off turnovers, 25 more than the Lady Cardinals, despite committing just four fewer turnovers. The Lady Raiders have won four games since the most recent poll was released on Dec. 20. The next poll is scheduled to be released Tuesday. Three Rivers is not currently receiving votes. Moberly Area, ranked 25th, is the only region team in the rankings. The Lady Raiders next play at 5:30 p.m., Friday at State Fair. Mineral Area has now lost four of their last five after winning six straight during November and December. In all four losses, the Lady Cardinals shot under 40 percent from the field and did not score more than 63 points.