DEARBORN — The holiday break layoff that basketball teams can have in between games can be a tricky and unpredictable thing to navigate for coaches.
For Riverview, it had been nearly two whole weeks since their last game before they took the floor against non-conference foe Dearborn Fordson on the road on Friday. Head coach Nolan Glime was admittedly unsure of how his team would handle having to shake off the rust of not playing since before Christmas.“I was concerned about how we would react,” Glime said. “We didn’t practice yesterday or the day before. But we came our firing today and that was the message in the locker room. Fordson is a good team, they’re going to be ready to play.
“We got exactly what we asked for.”
No signs of rust for Riverview on Friday.
With a 55-35 road win over Fordson, the local Pirates extended their win streak to five games, their longest such streak since winning eight in a row since the 2023-24 season.
Friday’s game continues what has a been a strong stretch for Riverview, whose last four victories have been by an average of just under 32 points. They’re also averaging over 56 points during their current win streak.
Glime, though, says it is the other end of the floor that is kick-starting a lot of their in-game success, as was the case on Friday afternoon in Dearborn.
“I was really impressed with our defensive effort,” Glime said. “We did a great job of pressing and making it difficult for (Fordson) to get into their sets. They run some good stuff, so we needed to make that as difficult as possible for them.”
To Glime’s point, Riverview held Fordson to single-digit point outputs in three of the four quarters in Friday’s matchup. In the first half alone, the Bucs held the Tractors to just six made shots from the floor, allowing them to take a 33-17 lead into halftime.
On the other side of the coin, Riverview was tasked with trying to handle Fordson’s pressure defense as well. Glime, though, was encouraged with how his team was able to break the press and find their comfort zone offensively.
“We want to work in transition,” Glime said. “We got the ball into the middle to break their press, now we’re running out 3-on-2 every time. We were just making really good decisions. We missed a few shots but we did a good job on the glass getting some second and third opportunities.”
Riverview’s only real hiccup of the game came in the third quarter when they were outscored by Fordson, 14-9.
The Pirates, however, were to use that early double-digit lead to their advantage and quickly regroup for the final stanza. They held the Tractors to just four total points in the fourth.
“That’s something we have been preaching to them,” Glime said. “How do we get more quality possessions? You do it on defense by turning people over and getting stops, and then crashing the offensive glass. That’s been our M.O. over these last handful of games.”
Scoring wise, it was a collective team effort for Riverview, who had three players reach double-figures and a fourth just come shy of that.
Point guard Elyanna Ortiz led all scorers in the game. The junior was also a spark early for the locals, scoring 11 of her game-high 16 points in the first half.
The Pirates also saw senior Katie Patterson and junior Gracie Urista each tally 13 and 11 points, respectively, while senior Caiya Hunter chipped in with nine points.
Glime added that keeping Fordson’s Madeena El-Mubarak was an individual point of focus as part of their team defensive plans. The standout sophomore turned in a team-best 13 points for the Tractors.
The battle in Dearborn on Friday was the first meeting between the two programs since a thrilling regional semifinal matchup back in the 2023 state playoffs, which Riverview won before eventually claiming a regional championship.
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Friday was the third of five consecutive road games for Riverview (5-1), who will take the floor again on Jan 7 when they visit local rival Gibraltar Carlson.
Glime reinforced his team buying in defensively as the main recent for their current success. He also expressed a lot of relief for now being back in a regular routine of practices and games, now with the holiday break behind them.
“We’re really looking forward to it,” Glime said. “This is a really special group. We’re looking forward to the next couple of months here, working hard and trying to get better everyday.”
Photo gallery of Riverview vs Dearborn Fordson in non-conference girls hoops action
