L-B tops Riverdale, clinches 10th straight BVC crown

MOUNT BLANCHARD – Liberty-Benton played a strong first half – led by a dominant second quarter by freshman Emelia Kin – and then held off a furious Riverdale rally to win, 44-31. The victory secured the Eagles 10th consecutive outright Blanchard Valley Conference championship. L-B will be moving to the Northern Lakes League next year. "Give Riverdale a lot of credit. They made us earn it tonight," said Liberty-Benton coach Chad Lieb, whose team improved to 16-4, 9-0 in the BVC. Neither team did well offensively early. Sophie McDaniel converted a layup on Liberty-Benton's first possession, but then the Eagles missed their next eight field goal attempts. Riverdale took a 3-2 lead – its only advantage of the game – when Claire Inbody converted a stickback and was fouled. But that was the Falcons only scoring of the first half. Riverdale shot 1 of 16 in the first quarter, and was just 3 of 26 in the first half. "That first half just got us," said Riverdale coach Drew Bostic, whose team could have gained a share of the BVC title had it won Thursday and then beaten Pandora-Gilboa next week. Despite its early struggles, the Eagles took advantage of Riverdale's offensive lull, going on a 10-0 run to close the first quarter. Kin's layup gave L-B a 12-3 lead after one. Kin took over in the second quarter, scoring eight of her nine points and grabbing eight of her 11 rebounds in the period. By the half, the Eagles led 25-8. "That's what makes this team really nice; you have several players that can score, and Emelia stepped up in the second quarter and did a great job for us," Lieb said. "We had a matchup that we liked, and we used that, and Emelia finished inside." In the second half, L-B extended its lead to 36-11 when Megan Gerken – who paced her squad with 16 points – converted a layup. Riverdale got rolling after that. Behind Marissa Bonham –who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds -- the Falcons went on a 15-1 run. Bonham's layup made it 37-25 with 4:55 left in regulation, and her free throw with 3:50 left made it 37-26. "(Bonham) took over the game in the third quarter," Bostic said. "Pace was obviously one of our goals, and we did a great job, I thought, in the third quarter, controlling that and looking like we wanted to be the aggressor." Liberty-Benton didn't make a field goal in the fourth quarter, but it got to the line and made just enough free throws to put the game away. Lieb praised Corra Dehart, who finished with two points, five blocks and three steals, for securing the win. "It started with Corra inside," he said. "She really changes a lot of shots in there. I know she didn't have a great night offensively, but defensively is what really helped us out. She alters a lot of shots in there, and she did a great job." Riverdale dropped to 11-8, 7-2 in the BVC. "Liberty's got a great basketball team, and I'm very proud of the girls for not giving up," Bostic said. "That's what you want, as a coach, is for your girls to just keep fighting, and they did for 32 minutes." LIBERTY-BENTON (16-4, 9-0 BVC) Gerken 5-5—16; E. Lieb 1-3—5; S. McDaniel 4-3—12; Dehart 1-0—2. E. Kin 4-1—9. TOTALS: 15-49—12-25-- RIVERDALE (11-8, 7-2 BVC) Mowery 1-0—3; Thacker 2-3—7; Bonham 3-6—13; Inbody 2-4—8. TOTALS: 8-51—13-20—31. Liberty-Benton 12 13 12 7 –44 Riverdale 3 5 10 15 – 31 3-POINT GOALS: Liberty-Benton 2-14 (Gerken, S. McDaniel); Riverdale 2-14 (Mowery, Bonham). REBOUNDS: Liberty-Benton 40 (Kin 11); Riverdale 36 (Bonham 10) TURNOVERS: Liberty-Benton 15; Riverdale 13 JV: Riverdale 38-19.