NEOSHO — Even with adversity seemingly to the left, to the right and behind, the Three Rivers College women's basketball team still nearly managed to pull off a road win on Saturday.
Despite missing Amelia Corasaniti and Samyah Jordan, their two leading scorers, and also being delayed by a bus breakdown, the Lady Raiders still held a late lead before the host Crowder Lady Roughriders rallied for a 66-63 Region XVI win Saturday.
With the loss, Three Rivers falls to 21-4 on the season and 6-2 in Region XVI competition. TRC enters the final third of the region schedule one game behind State Fair (22-1, 7-1).
"Without our top two leading scorers and our leaders, I'm happy with our overall effort," Three Rivers coach Alex Wiggs said. "However, we have to get better defensively and not give up so many second-chance opportunities and be disciplined and get stops late when we need." The Lady Raiders also were late making it to the game thanks to a bus breakdown on the trip west, with Saturday's tipoff time was pushed back 20 minutes as a result. "It's the second time we've unfortunately had bus issues and arrived over an hour late to the game, which is why the game was pushed back," Wiggs said. "We are unfortunately 0-2 when we've had major bus issues this season. But I'm proud of how they handled adversity. We just have to keep getting better."
Three Rivers took a 60-55 lead with three minutes to go when Da'Naya Ross put back her own miss, but the Lady Roughriders chipped away on offense and clamped down on defense, taking a 62-60 lead on Aubri Wilson's three-point play with 51.7 seconds left in the contest. Lexie Henry's basket with 11 seconds left made it 64-60 and capped a 9-0 run.
TRC did not give up, getting a clutch 3-pointer from Ross with nine seconds left to cut the Lady Roughrider lead to 64-63, but could get no closer.
Ross led the Lady Raiders with 22 points, 16 rebounds and five assists, while the duo of Tristan Spearman and Kiera Neal each had 10 points and Caitlin Lord finished with eight points. Ytaly Lewis blocked a pair of shots, while Spearman added four steals.
Wilson paced Crowder with 25 points, while Henry added 15 and the duo of Camdyn Hart and Barbara Perandini finished with eight apiece. Abbey Green added seven rebounds and four blocked shots for the Lady Roughriders, while Wilson and ShaLyn Edmondson each added a pair of steals.
Three Rivers is back in action Wednesday when it hosts Moberly in another Region XVI contest. Tipoff time is set for 5 p.m. at the Libla Family Sports Complex.
Notes: Moberly defeated Mineral Area 78-75 Saturday evening for its first Region XVI win. The Lady Greyhounds are 12-14 overall and 1-7 in Region XVI play, while Mineral Area is 14-10 and 2-6. … Three Rivers is guaranteed a top-three finish in the MCCAC and Region XVI standings and still controls its own destiny in its quest for the top seed in the region tournament.
Mike Buhler - Daily American Republic