HURON TOWNSHIP – Girls basketball action in the Huron League resumed on Monday night when New Boston Huron hosted Riverview.
No local team, if any, is on a hotter run right now than Riverview, who came in winners of six straight games overall after dropping their season opener. Huron meanwhile was looking to extend their modest three-game win streak and make it five wins through the first seven games overall.In this resumption of conference play, it was all Riverview, who dominated the hometown Chiefs en route to a 70-42 win.
It was the first conference game in roughly a month for both teams, something that Pirates head coach Nolan Glime was appreciative of after the win.
“We were excited,” Glime said. “It’s our first league game back in the new year, so we were excited to see some familiar faces. A lot of our girls know (Huron’s) girls well, and we wanted to come out and play really well. I thought we did a good job of that.
Opening the game, Riverview jumped on Huron from the opening tip. Despite an early run where the Chiefs were somewhat able to weather the storm, the Bucs led 17-7 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second, Riverview really extended their lead by using their stout defensive pressure to make life very difficult for the Chiefs. The result was taking a convincing 38-15 lead into halftime.
It’s a full-court effort with their defense sparking the offense for the visitors.
“We did a great job with our ball pressure,” Glime said. “we were able to turn (Huron) over a little bit and get some runouts and move the ball great on offense. We got great shots, great looks, got a lot of open threes, and we knocked him down tonight. It was overall a really good performance.”
In the second half, all systems were a go for Riverview, who continued their dominating defense over the Chiefs. It’s an end of the floor that Glime and company take a lot of pride in, especially during their now seven-game win streak.
“I mean, it’s an easy way for us to get baskets, and it’s a fun style to play,” Glime explained. ”It gives us an opportunity to get more people in the game.
“That’s kind of been the talking point since the start of the year,” Glime continued. “Defense can lead to offense, and we are at a spot where we are good enough to turn some people over and put some ball pressure on some people and make life difficult.”
For Huron, they were able to find more offensive output in the second half and find some holes in the stingy Riverview defense but the big deficit early was too much to overcome.
Leading the way was junior Gracie Urista, who was one of four Riverview players in double-figures with 18 points. Senior Caiya Hunter added 14 points, while two more seniors in Anabelle DiBrano and Katie Patterson each scored 11 points.
For Huron, Addison Beddow led the way with a team-best 11 points. The senior was aided by the efforts of classmate Elle Huffman with 10 points and sophomore Ava Bossick with nine points.
UP NEXT
Next up for Riverview (7-1, 3-0 Huron League) is a home date with Monroe Jefferson later in the week on Thursday, Jan 15.
For Glime and the Bucs, it is all about taking the next strides.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, for sure,” Glime said. “Defensively, we need to communicate through our ball screens better. There’s some things on offense that we need to shore up, see patient stuff.
“We like to run and gun but when it’s not there, we need to be able to slow down,” Glime continued. “Survey what the defense has given us and try to take advantage. So we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Huron (4-3, 1-2 Huron League) will look to bounce back and start a new win streak when they go on the road on Thursday to face off with Monroe St Mary Catholic Central.
The Pirates and Chiefs will hold their second scheduled meeting on Feb 9 at Riverview.
Photo gallery of Riverview vs New Boston Huron in Huron League girls hoops action
