Shullsburg girls hoops overwhelms River Ridge

By A.J. Gates

A 38-13 halftime deficit proved to be too much for coach Michael DiPadova and his River Ridge girls’ basketball team to overcome, as they lost to the host Miners last Thursday evening, 61-31.

The loss was River Ridge’s first of the season in conference play, falling to 2-1 in the Six Rivers West and 4-2 overall.

Against the Miners, both teams started out strong and were knotted up at 9-9 early in the contest before Shullsburg outscored the Timberwolves 29-5 to hold a 38-13 lead at the intermission.

The second half was much closer, though River Ridge failed to cut into their deficit and were outscored 23-18.

“We just got out of rhythm with turnovers before the end of the first half,” explained coach DiPadova. “The second half was mostly a draw, but we couldn’t make up the difference. It will be a good lesson for us in keeping our heads when things don’t go our way.”

With only four girls scoring for River Ridge last Thursday night, sophomore Ava Nies led the team with 13 points, nine of which came in the second half.

Junior Erin Adrian finished with eight points, followed by fellow juniors Kristina Sletten with seven and McKenzie Taylor with three.

This Friday night the Lady Timberwolves will host Albany/Monticello before traveling to Boscobel on Monday, Dec. 22.