As of 9 p.m. Friday, a pair of 3-point losses to Wabash Valley was the difference between the Lady Raiders being undefeated and being a .500 ball club. After their second loss of the season Friday, Three Rivers stayed in the locker room for 90 minutes and talked things out. They took that meeting into Saturday morning's shootaround, and took that into an 83-48 win over Shawnee Community College to close out the Lady Raider Classic on Saturday at the Bess Activity Center. "We've got to play our rhythm on both sides of the basketball. If we do, we've got a chance to be pretty good. When we don't, we can be really bad," Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said. "Today was a totally different game."

Three Rivers (3-2) opened with a 13-0 run, was up 20 early in the second quarter, added an 11-0 run to start the second half, and was subbing with complete line changes for the final 13 minutes of play.  "We had a long talk in the locker room and we don't like losing so we know we've got to do what it takes to win," Three Rivers sophomore Camdyn McDaniel said. "Our bench was really engaged, so that helps us and gives us motivation. So that when they come off the bench that gets them ready and gets them pumped up." The Lady Raiders picked up their intensity from the day before, particularly on defense. The Saints didn't make their first field goal for 7 minutes and managed six buckets in the half. "It set the entire tone for the entire ballgame," Walk said of the early run. "We got in a rhythm that we want to play at offensively and defensively. That made our shots better." The Lady Raiders scored on their first four possessions of the game, two buckets each from Michael Everhart and Joya Smith. DeNayia Holmes added a free throw, then McDaniel scored on a pair of putbacks to make it 13-0. It was hardly an unlucky advantage. "Offensively, we were just communicating and running through the plays and we were getting a few more rebounds," McDaniel said. "Defensively, we were communicating on that, too. We got our rotations down and our help side was really good."

Three Rivers similarly put up 11 points in 2 1/2 minutes after halftime. Kaylee Heggemann made four free throws, Everhart banked in a 3, and Ge'Naisha Robinson scored a pair of layups off turnovers. "We were up at halftime and before, when that's happened, we've come out really slow and sluggish, but we came out strong and intense again in the second half. We've just got to keep in mind to do that every game," said McDaniel, who led the Lady Raiders with 15 points after getting 10 in the first half, including 3s on consecutive possessions just before the break. Destiney Willams added 11 points and Heggemann got 10. "When you have that intensity on both sides of the basketball, you're engaged, you're focused, you're concentrating, and you don't want to miss a step. That's how we played this entire ball game," Walk said. "Our intensity was up. It started on the defensive end and transferred over to the offensive end." Shawnee (0-4) had three players on the bench and Walk said depth started to play a factor midway through the second quarter and then again midway through the third. "We're six points away from being 5-0," Walk said. "Just trying to build game after game, trying to put four quarters together."