Spotswood puts end to Riverbend's season

Group AA girls basketball state quarterfinals: Spotswood 69, Riverbend 54

By ADAM HIMMELSBACH

Date published: 3/6/2005

HARRISONBURG--Chris Dodson paced the sideline and stomped his feet and nervously munched on Twizzlers.

Spotswood High School's girls basketball coach didn't feel any lead was safe. He'd seen Riverbend charge back from hefty deficits. Just two weeks ago the Bears clawed back from 19 down to win a regional semifinal.

So last night, even though Dodson's squad was thundering past Riverbend for most of its Group AA state quarterfinal at Eastern Mennonite University, the coach was a mountain of unease.

Finally, with a 13-point lead and 58 seconds left on the clock, Dodson came to terms with the result.

"We're going to win," he muttered to himself as his eyes darted toward the scoreboard. "We're going to win."

The coach was right. Playing in front of a raucous Spotswood-dominated crowd, the Blazers held on and grabbed a 69-54 victory.

Spotswood's Katy Larson had a game-high 24 points and Emily Rose added 15. Amber Showalter finished with six points, 13 rebounds and four assists.

Jessica Nelms paced Riverbend (23-5) with 16 points and eight rebounds. Jessica Duncan tallied 11 points, Kierra Parker had eight points and Stacy Griffith had six points and nine rebounds. As a team, Riverbend pulled down 21 offensive rebounds.

"You can't really put your head down," Duncan said. "We're still one of the best schools in the state. Just to come together and make it this far says a lot."

It marked the final high school game of Riverbend's three seniors: Duncan, Bonnie Castro and Shannon Wheeler. Afterward, the Beard chose to look ahead rather than look back.

They're excited to have so many underclassmen. They're excited to have transformed themselves from an unknown first-year school into a state quarterfinalist.

"I will never question this team's heart, guts and pride," Riverbend coach Claude Tyler said. "They always fight right up until the game is over."

Last night the youthful Bears ran into a veteran Spotswood squad. The Blazers (23-5), who'll play Magna Vista in Friday' s state semifinals in Richmond, started four seniors and a junior, and had a gym full of throats on their side as well.

In the days leading up to the game, Dodson went back and read every newspaper article that was written about Riverbend over the last 100 days. He was looking for a hint, a theme that developed that showed where to attack.

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Date published: 3/6/2005