In going over Thursday's gameplan, the Three Rivers College coaches told Markeia Porter she could draw as many charges as she wanted. Porter drew three in the first quarter, back-to-back charges in the fourth quarter and seven total, but Three Rivers still lost to St. Louis Community College 87-80 at the Bess Activity Center. Three Rivers (16- 10) was up by 15 at one point in the third quarter, but the lead evaporated in minutes and St. Louis tied the game early in the fourth. "We had chances down late," Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said. "We were getting the shots we wanted to take. They are a good ball club." The intensity picked up immediately with several possessions in a row ending in a foul. St. Louis' Caprice Hairston picked up her fi fth and went to the bench with 5:36 to play, St. Louis in the bonus and Three Rivers down by four. Then Chrishana Wilson picked up her fifth with just under four minutes left, taking out two starting Archers with Three Rivers still down four. Porter then drew a charge on back-to-back possessions. "The coaches have a good scouting report. That's all that is," Porter said. "I just bought into it. I get them all the time, but today was just an extra push. I knew I was going to get lucky, but I didn't think seven lucky." Lakeita Chappel was fouled on an offensive rebound and cut the lead to two points with three minutes left, then Ellisha Davis sank a 3-pointer at the other end.
St. Louis (20-3) worked the shot clock down and Davis drove the middle before kicking the ball to Kimyra McGhee. She was called for a charge on Porter, then called for a technical foul after showing her frustration with the call. Catera Sawyers made both free throws, cutting the lead to three points, and Walk had a high five for Porter as she was subbed out. Before inbounding the ball, the St. Louis bench picked up a technical foul and Sawyers went back to the line and made both. Down a point, Three Rivers missed a 3 and a putback, and the rebound bounced out of bounds with St. Louis touching it last. Sawyers was open on the inbounds play, but the ball was stripped loose on the shot and Machela Cook scored through a foul at the other end. After several empty possessions by both teams, Chappel was called for a foul with 36 seconds left and Davis made a free throw to put St. Louis up by four. Hailee Erickson, who led the Raiders with 18 points, took the inbounds and drove, but tripped and lost the ball. St. Louis added two more free throws, the Raiders missed a 3, and St. Louis sealed its 15-point comeback. "The one thing we did better the second half, we only had three offensive rebounds the first half … we got outrebounded by 10. We need more offensive rebounds, especially when we shoot 7 for 26. There's a lot out there to get," Walk said. Three Rivers went from shooting 56 percent in the fi rst half to 28 percent in the second half. Along with that, the Archers grabbed 10 more rebounds and eight more offensive rebounds to go plus-10 on secondchance points. DeNayia Holmes, Chappel and Alex Kohler all had 12 points while Sawyers got 11. The loss ends a two game winning streak for the Lady Raiders, both region wins, going into Saturday's road game at Jefferson. It is Three Rivers' final away game of the regular season and a win would get them back to .500 in Region XVI play. The game has been moved to 1 p.m. due to weather. "We're ready. We're focused. We've got three weeks left," Walk said.
Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republic