The area’s premiere girls basketball team has a challenger.
Smyrna, a state tournament team a year ago, saved its best ball for the fourth quarter, but Riverdale had enough cushion — and enough resiliency down the stretch — to hold off the Lady Bulldogs for a 55-52 win at Johnny Parsley Memorial Gynasium Thursday night.
“We knew coming into it we had to be confident if we wanted to win,” said Riverdale junior Jaclissa Haislip, who led the Lady Warriors with 13 points.
“But I think that definitely is going to boost our confidence up a lot more. Our next game is Shelbyville on Tuesday, so I think that’s a good win to have going into Shelbyville.”
The Lady Warriors (2-0) hit four of seven 3-pointers in the third — two by junior Candace Spurlock (11 points) — and opened up build a 12-point lead early in the fourth.
The Lady Bulldogs (0-1) chipped away, though, and cut the lead to 53-52 with 12 seconds left in the game after Katie WIlliams (nine points) drilled a 3 from the right corner and Alex Adams (18 points) converted a layup after a steal.
Riverdale freshman Shacobia Barbee (eight points) canned two free throws with eight seconds to go, and Ty Hampton’s 3 at the buzzer missed for Smyrna.
“Twelve points down, we saw a sense of urgency finally,” Smyrna coach Steve Willey said. “Give Riverdale credit. They did a good job of taking our inside game away. We didn’t get the ball reversed like we needed to.”
Smyrna senior Dymon Raynor, a 6-foot-2 MTSU signee, finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds but didn’t get many touches inside against Riverdale’s 2-3 zone — anchored by Barbee in the middle.
“Shacobia did a phenomenal job,” said Hillary Maxwell, who won her first home game as the Riverdale coach. “Her biggest attribute is she has no fear. She doesn’t care if you’re 6-2, 6-4. ... She’s going to fight. She’s not going to let anybody get the best of her.”
Smyrna 13 12 8 19 — 52
Riverdale 15 12 16 12 — 55
Smyrna (0-1) — Alex Adams 18, Dymon Raynor 12, Katie Williams 9, Paige Malone 4, Kelsey Drayton 3, Ty Hampton 3, Shelby Moore 1. Riverdale (2-0) — Jaclissa Haislip 13, Candace Spurlock 11, Ashley Henry 8, Shacobia Barbee 8, Jessica Azor 6, Hali Boland 4, Ashley Lott 3, Aubrey Jernigan 2.
