MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Jan. 21–28)
SIX RIVERS WEST BOYS BASKETBALL: Potosi 58, River Ridge 53
By A.J. Gates, Herald Independent
Chieftains knock off #7 Timberwolves in key Six Rivers West clash
POTOSI — The importance of last Tuesday night’s Six Rivers West boys basketball contest between visiting River Ridge and host Potosi was not lost on the coaches, players and fans alike.
Both teams entered Tuesday night’s contest with one conference loss, each falling to Highland, who sits unbeaten at 9-0.
While the winner would hold onto the second spot in the league standings and remain in contention to compete with the Cardinals for the conference crown, the loser would fall two games behind the league leaders and would need help climbing back into contention.
What was expected to be a hard-fought evenly-matched contest, saw coach Mike Uppena’s Chieftains hold on for a 58-53 victory over coach Jim Wagner’s Timberwolves.
With the win, Potosi improved to 8-1 in league play and remains one game behind Highland, while the Timberwolves fell to 8-2 with back-to-back conference losses and occupy the league’s third spot.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time and it’s always been a big game with River Ridge, and that will probably never change,” said coach Mike Uppena.
“The importance, obviously, when you’re looking at a conference race with three teams, getting behind the eight-ball can be a huge problem,” he added. “Obviously taking care of that and putting yourself in position to control your own destiny is what we wanted to do.”
“In the grand scheme of things we just wanted to see if we were getting better,” Uppena added. “We lost to Highland in our second game and I felt like we were playing better. I’m always ready for a test, and I know these guys were, and River Ridge is a huge test to see where you’re at. It was a close game that could have gone a few different directions, but we were fortunate enough to come out on top.”
Tuesday night’s contest saw the Chieftains jump out to an early 6-0 lead, only to see the Timberwolves respond with a 9-1 run to claim a 9-7 lead of their own four minutes later.
From there the lead would change hands three more times before Potosi broke loose of a 15-15 tie in the final three minutes of the half to hold a slim lead of 20-18 at the intermission.
The second half began with Potosi extending their lead to 26-18 with the help of another 6-0 scoring run, and took their largest lead of 32-23 with 14:11 to play in the contest.
The Timberwolves chipped away at their deficit until they recaptured a lead of 41-40 on a 3-point play by Ty Adrian with 6:15 showing on the clock.
As it turned out, that was the only time River Ridge would lead in the second half, though the two teams were tied at 45-45 following a steal and layup by River Ridge’s Luke Patterson at the 3:20 mark.
In the final three minutes, Potosi outscored the Timberwolves 13-8, making 5-of-9 free throw attempts in the final 1:25, though River Ridge certainly made things interesting.
With 22.9 seconds to play and Potosi clinging to a 55-52 lead, the Timberwolves squandered an opportunity to tie the game by committing a costly turnover that gave the ball back over to the Chieftains.
Potosi senior Dawson Weber then followed by making one-of-two free throw attempts to give the Chieftains a four-point advantage with 14.8 seconds to play.
River Ridge had two last chances to steal the game when junior point guard Brandon Davis made one-of-two free throw attempts with 10.1 seconds on the clock. Upon missing his second attempt, teammate Elliott Thornton came away with the rebound and found an open Carter Copsey at the right corner for a deep game-tying 3-point attempt.
The shot was off the mark, but after a mad scramble for the rebound, the ball was knocked out of bounds by the Chieftains under River Ridge’s basket with 1.2 seconds showing on the clock.
The heroics of a game-tying buzzer beater by Davis was nullified when his left foot stepped out of bounds while receiving the inbounds pass. A pair of free throws by Potosi senior Oliver Post sealed the Chieftain’s victory soon after.
While the Timberwolves were outscored 40-28 inside the 3-point arc, and 12-7 at the free throw line, they held the upper hand from long range, making 6-of-17 (35.3%) 3-point attempts compared to just 2-of-14 (14.3%) for the Chieftains.
Potosi, who was 22-of-60 (36.7%) from the field and 12-of-19 (63.2%) from the line, committed 12 turnovers, which the Timberwolves converted into 12 points.
River Ridge, who was 20-of-51 (39.2%) from the field and 7-of-13 (53.8%) from the line, committed 18 turnovers, which Potosi converted into 20 points.
“We had way too many costly turnovers in the second half and late in the game to overcome,” said coach Jim Wagner. “I’m frustrated with the amount of turnovers we’ve had over the last three or four games. We need to do better.”
Leading the Chieftains with 17 points was Post, who also pulled down six rebounds and dished out two assists.
“His confidence offensively is growing,” Uppena said of Post. “He’s comfortable knocking down some mid-range shots and he’s even taken a few threes here and there. And, he’s a heck of a defender too.”
Aidan Uppena was close behind with 15 points, four boards and two assists, while Dawson Weber chipped in 10 points, six boards, four steals and three assists. Isaiah Groom led Potosi on the glass with 17 rebounds.
The Timberwolves were led by Davis, who netted 17 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. Ty Adrian finished with 10 points, followed by Brock Bunge with eight and Carter Copsey seven.
Both teams had conference crossover games with teams from the Six Rivers East the following Friday night, Potosi knocking off Barneveld 67-43 and River Ridge beating Black Hawk 90-23.
The trio of Weber, Uppena and Groom combined to score 43 of their team’s 67 points, with Weber scoring 15 and Uppena and Groom 14 each. Post pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, while Weber also led the team with five assists and three steals.
The Chieftains made 28-of-59 (47.5%) shot attempts, including 4-of-9 (44.4%) from downtown. They were 7-of-15 (46.7%) from the free throw line, committed 18 turnovers and out-rebounded their opponent 45-29.
The Timberwolves got a team-high 20 points from point guard Brandon Davis in their win Friday night, as the junior also had seven rebounds, three assists and five steals.
This past Monday evening Potosi continued their winning ways with a 77-52 victory over host Belmont, while River Ridge throttled visiting Benton, 84-39. The Cardinals remained unbeaten in league play Monday night with an 88-49 victory over Cassville.
With their most recent victories, Highland improved to 12-0 in league play, while Potosi jumped up to 10-1 and River Ridge to 10-2. This Thursday night, the Cardinals and Chieftains meet up at Potosi, while River Ridge travels to Cassville.
Potosi 58, River Ridge 53
(from Tuesday, Jan. 21, at Potosi)
River Ridge....18 35 — 53
Potosi..............22 36 — 58
River Ridge (12–2, 7–2) - Brandon Davis 17, Ty Adrian 10, Brock Bunge 8, Carter Copsey 7, Andrew Nies 2, Elliott Thornton 5, Luke Patterson 4. Totals - 20-51, 7-13 53.
Potosi (10–2, 8–1) — Jaxon Oyen 3, Aaron Edge 8, Dawson Weber 10, Oliver Post 17, Isaiah Groom 5, Aidan Uppena 15. Totals - 22-60, 12-19 58.
3-point goals - RR: (6-17) Davis 2, Adrian 1, Bunge 2, Copsey 1; P: (2-14) Oyen 1, Edge 1. Team fouls - RR 20, P 14. Fouled out - Nies (RR).