Girls basketball: Turnovers cost Gavit against Riley in final
By Nick Nochevich Post-Tribune correspondent December 28, 2012 11:44PM
Updated: January 30, 2013 6:11AM
GARY — It was high-flying, intense action at the Calumet Tournament final that pitted Gavit against South Bend Riley.
The Gladiators controlled the first half, but Riley took them away from their game plan and captured the title, 77-66.
“We just made too many mistakes in the fourth quarter with turnovers and give credit to South Bend, they were able to take us out of our game plan and create enough opportunities to get the win,” said Gavit coach Brandon Ridenour.
Both teams came out of the gate on fire with aggressive offensive attacks coupled with defensive pressure in a fast-paced first quarter that Gavit maintained its early lead at 22-19.
Solid shooting from Aryk Rivoli-Johnson and Shalon Bell paced the Gladiators through the first half. The duo led Gavit with 19 and 13 points respectfully.
Gavit (5-4) seemed to be opening things up late in the second quarter, but a late push by Riley cut the Gavit lead to 40-38 at the half.
The third quarter once again was filled with action seeing dunks, 3-pointers and drives to the basket by both teams, a true treat to the fans on hand.
Riley (6-3) edged Gavit to take the lead at the end of the third with a 56-54 lead and never looked back. Riley pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Gavit 21-12.
Darren Taylor led all scorers with 23 points followed by teammates Taron Miller 19 points and Kenny Jones with 14 points.
“This was a great test for us playing against a team that plays a similar up-tempo style of game as we do,,” Ridenour said.
“We know that we eventually will see opponents like this so it’s a great opportunity to learn from a game like this and work on eliminating some of the mistakes we made late in the game.”
