Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

BIDWELL — The Rock Hill Redwomen may have been missing the main ingredient, it didn’t seems to affect the recipe.

With point guard and leading scorer Hazley Matthews out with an illness, the Redwomen came together and beat the River Valley Lady Raiders 54-42 on Saturday.

“I was curious to see how we would react to not having Hazley. I thought our girls handled it well,” said Redwomen coach Eric Bailey.

“I thought our girls handled it well. Hadyn (Bailey) got in a little foul trouble early and had to sit and that hurt, but our girls played great lockdown defense. It was good to get a road win.”

The Redwomen added a little extra with the other ingredients as Hope Easterling sweetened the pot with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 3 steals.

Hadyn Bailey scored 13 points and 3 steals while J’lynn Risner had 8 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals and Hayleigh Risner had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocked shots.

Easterling and J’lynn Risner combined for 10 points as Rock Hill took a 14-10 lead.

Savannah White hit a 3-pointer for the Lady Raiders.

Emma Harper knocked down a 3-pointer and Easterling had 4 points as five different players scored and Rock Hill (11-2) opened up a 27-14 lead at the break.

Lauren Twyman had a 3-pointer for River Valley in the quarter.

Easterling dropped in 6 points and Harper had 4 points as Rock Hill extended the lead to 41-26 in the third quarter.

Brooklin Clonch and Kallie Burger each hit 3-pointers and scored 5 points for the Lady Raiders in the quarter.

Clonch had 6 points with Emma Truance and Burger had 4 points each as River Valley mounted a mild comeback in the fourth quarter.

But Bailey drained a trifecta and scored 7 points while Easterling had 6 points to help the Redwomen keep their lead.

Clonch had 13 points to lead River Valley (1-6).

Rock Hill will host Ironton on Monday.

Rock Hill 14 13 14 13 = 54

River Valley 7 7 12 16 = 42

ROCK HILL (11-2): Aleigha Matney 0 0 0-1 Hadyn Bailey 4 1 2-3 13, Emma Harper 2 1 0-2 7, Hope Easterling 10 0 2-4 22, Hayleigh Risner 2 0 0-2 4, Josie Kidd 0 0 0-0 0, J’lynn Risner 4 0 0-4 8. Totals: 22 2 4-16 54. Rebounds: 33 (Easterling 13, J. Risner 10, H. Risner 6). Assists: 7 (H. Risner 3, Bailey 2). Steals: 15 (J. Risner 5, Bailey 3, Easterling 3, H. Risner 3). Blocks: 4 (H. Risner 4). Turnovers. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Matney.

RIVER VALLEY (1-6): Brooklin Clonch 4 1 2-4 13, Brooklyn Spencer 0 0 0-0 0, Allie Holley 2 0 0-0 4, Carlee Manley 0 0 0-1 0, Lauren Twyman 1 1 0-0 5, Emma Truance 3 0 0-2 6, Savannah White 1 1 0-3 5, Kallie Burger 2 1 2-2 9. Totals:  13 4 4-12 42. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Truance.