The Riverside girls basketball team entered the first round of the WPIAL playoffs with high hopes as they secured the section title and were playing great basketball; yet, because of costly turnovers and their opponent’s aptitude from behind the arc, the Lady Panthers were doomed.
Steel Valley made a startling 10 three-pointers and Riverside turned the ball over almost 20 times in Tuesday’s matchup, which led to a disappointing 76-61 loss.
Leading the way from the 3-point line was Ashley McCallister and Taylor Szczepankowski, who combined for eight of Steel Valley’s 10 three-pointers. McCallister (22 points) had five and Szczepankowski (10 points) added three.
Surprisingly, though, it was not all 3-pointers that defeated the Lady Panthers. In fact, leading scorer in the game was Steel Valley’s C.C. Dixon, who scored 23 points and didn’t convert a single 3-pointer.
Steel Valley’s coach knew it was tough to handle Dixon one-on-one, and Riverside found that out in the playoff matchup. Dixon was seemingly making every shot, and when she wasn’t, her other players were making three’s.
For Riverside, Sam Weir and Alex Deep played a strong game, scoring 20 and 19 points, respectively. Deep play extremely well in the second half, but Steel Valley continued to match that great play.
After a nice 4-0 start for the Panthers, they soon began making mental mistakes by turning the ball over to Steel Valley – and when they did turn it over, their opponent made sure to capitalize.
When it was all said and done, the Lady Panthers gave it their all and it was just simply not meant to be. Riverside ends their season with an impressive 17-7 overall record.
