CARTERVILLE, Ill. - Same song, second verse.
Three Rivers opened its season with a home-and-home doubleheader against John A. Logan and won both games by more than 40 points.
After winning 110-60 on Saturday at the Libla Family Sports Complex, the Raiders cruised once again with an 85-43 win Thursday in Carterville, Ill.
While lower scoring, both games featured similar refrains in the box score. The Raiders (2-0) dominated bench scoring again Thursday with a 33-7 advantage.
Hya Haygood led the bench with 19 points, five steals and three rebounds.
" I thought she came in off the bench and played really, really well. - She got going on steals and defensively. She got some easy layups and got things going from there," Three Rivers coach Alex Wiggs said.
Chaylea Mosby was Three Rivers' only other player in double figures. She led all players with 28 points to go with six steals and six rebounds. Mosby was 6 for 10 on 3-pointers and 11 for 18 overall.
"We started off a little slow and Chaylea just kept battling, kept playing," Wiggs said. "That second half, definitely caught fire and made the extra pass."
Joi Montgomery nearly earned her second double-double in as many games to open the season. The freshman had 11 rebounds, including eight offensive rebounds, to go with eight points, three steals and two assists.
The Raiders allowed one second-chance point while earning 17 themselves, and were also plus-32 on points off turnovers and plus-36 on points in the paint. They held the Volunteers to four total points in the second quarter and seven in the third.
The Volunteers (0-2) committed 44 turnovers.
"Whenever you (force 44 turnovers) you are going to get a lot of open looks," Wiggs said, highlighting that Three Rivers' defense compensated for poor shooting early. "We didn't shoot the ball great from 3 as a team, but the biggest thing is we had 43 points off turnovers and 46 points in the paint."
Three Rivers also got 56 total rebounds and 24 offensive rebounds while shooting 34.9% overall and 16.7% on 3-pointers in the first half.
"For not seeing the ball go in the hole, I thought we did a great job of continuing to play and using our defense to get some easy baskets," Wiggs said.
NaTracia Ceaser led John A. Logan with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Autumn Dodd earned her first start with the Raiders and had eight points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists before fouling out after 24 minutes of playing time. The sophomore from Neelyville had 10 points and four rebounds in the Raiders' opener.
Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republic