With a 65-64 come from behind victory over host Shullsburg last Thursday night, coach Dan Moris and his River Ridge boys’ basketball team improved to 6-3 in Six Rivers conference action and 10-6 overall.
In a tightly contested battle between two evenly matched teams, the Timberwolves trailed their host 31-30 at the intermission, but outscored them in the second half 35-33.
With just over five minutes to play in the contest, Shullsburg held a 55-49 lead over the Timberwolves, but in the next four minutes, River Ridge outscored the Miners 11-7 to pull within 62-60 with one minute to play.
River Ridge senior Brandon Davis then came up with a steal that set up the team’s only 3-point bucket of the night, made by fellow senior Brock Bunge, that gave River Ridge a 63-62 lead with 32 seconds remaining on the clock.
Shullsburg retook the lead 12 seconds later on a driving bucket to go up 64-63 before Davis was fouled and sent to the line with 17.8 seconds showing on the clock.
Davis calmly knocked down both ends of the bonus try, putting River Ridge up 65-64, which would end up being the final score.
After getting the ball past half court, the Miners took a timeout with 8.9 seconds to play, and when they resumed action, a pass attempt into the post was knocked away and intercepted by River Ridge junior Jackson White to seal the victory.
“It was a great team effort by our guys, especially at the end of the game as we battled back in the final minutes,” said coach Moris.
Davis concluded the night with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-20 field goal attempts and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He also pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds to complete a double-double, while also dishing out three assists and coming away with two steals.
White also finished with a double-double for the Timberwolves, netting 12 points and pulling down 11 boards, while Cameren Reynolds chipped in 10 points followed by eight from Noah Copsey.
As a team, the Timberwolves made 26-of-69 (37.7 percent) total shot attempts, including 1-of-14 (7 percent) from 3-point range. They were 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) from the free throw line, came away with 16 steals and committed 19 turnovers.
“We turned the ball over too much,” said Moris. “That and being cold from beyond the arc prevented us from having a better night. But, I though we rebounded well and forced a lot of turnovers on defense. Plus, we made some big shots at the end when we needed them.”
Following this past Tuesday night’s road game at Belmont, the Timberwolves will travel to Monticello Friday night, then will host Highland next Monday evening.
