Matt Vines

WOODVILLE, Miss. – The Riverdale girls basketball team has prided itself on balanced scoring.
When Briarfield Academy shifted most of its defensive focus to take away point guard Mary Claire Jones on Saturday, Riverdale’s balance sprung into action as the Lady Rebels won the Class 2A South Region title with a 60-42 win against Briarfield.

The Lady Rebels (30-5) built a 15-point halftime lead thanks to 11 points off the bench by Julie Grace Riggs.

“I can’t stress enough how big (Riggs’) play was because we faced some adversity early with fouls and shots not falling,” said Riverdale coach Trey Pittman. “Makayla Pickett picked up two fouls in the first three minutes, and that’s when Julie Grace came off the bench and played so well.

“We really do have five players who can score at any given moment.”

Saturday’s performance capped an impressive first week of the playoffs for Riverdale, who easily disposed of Tallulah Academy, 66-6, on Wednesday and Tensas Academy, 62-26, on Friday.

Makayla Pickett contributed 29 first-half points against Tensas Academy to help build a big lead Friday.
Saturday’s win against Briarfield was Riverdale Academy’s third against those Lady Rebels this season. Riverdale won district meetings, 56-34 and 64-26.

“Briarfield was ready for us the third time,” Pittman said. “Briarfield played a junk defense in an effort to stop Mary Claire, but it opened things up for the rest of our players.

“We’ve got to play some better defense, but offensively, we played well all week.”

The region title means that Riverdale will be one of two No. 1 seeds in the upcoming Class 2A state tournament at Briarfield Academy.

Riverdale faces No. 4 seed Delta Academy on Wednesday at 7:45 p.m.

The top two teams from the Class 2A state tournament will advance to the overall MAIS tournament, where teams from all classes face each other.