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In plain basketball talk the Riverdale girls team "shot the lights out" when they worked their way past Highland 78-51 Monday in a non-conference game.
Madison Couey led a torrid first half with 16 points, a total including four three pointers, as the Chieftains outscored the Cardinals 42-22. Seven girls got into the scoring column in the first 18 minutes for Riverdale.
Couey finished the game with 24 points and along with Makayla Mau made it hard for the Cardinals to defend the perimeter. Mau added 14 points and had a pair of threes. Tess Johnson also got into double figures with 16.
"We couldn't handle both their size and their outside shooting," said Highland coach Josh Tarrell. "They were also pretty deadly from the free throw line."
The Chieftains buried 22 of 33 tries from the 15 foot stripe.
Carlee Kosharek led the Cardinals with 15 points and Katelyn Esser came off the bench to add 11.
"Carlee had a strong offensive performance and Katelyn gave us a lift off the bench," said Tarrell. "They were our bright spots."
Tarrell added that Riverdale was on target all night.
"Maybe we bring out the best in them," he said. "Couey did a good job setting the table and as a team they move the ball pretty well."
"We were not ready for this one," Tarrell continued. "We have a lot of work to do."
Things started to unravel early when the Chieftains banked in a three pointer then their pressure caused some inopportune turnovers.
"We lost our confidence early," Tarrell said. "It just steamrolled from there."
The Cardinals travel to Fennimore Tuesday.
SCORE BY HALVES
R 42 36 78
H 22 29 51
BOX SCORE
RIVERDALE 78: (fg-ft-tp) Couey 7-6 24, Tess Johnson 3-10-16, Mau 5-2-14, Hillesheim 0-1-1, Matthews 0-1-1, Mueller 0-0-0, Prochaska 0-1-1, Hach, 4-0-8, Grimm 0-0-0, Noble 0-0-0, Tatum Johnson 4-0-8, Brownlee 0-0-0, Taylor Johnson 0-0-0, Childs 1-0-2 Totals 25-22/33-78 Fouls-14
HIGHLAND 51: Hennessey 3-1-7 M. Mueller 2-0-4, M. Kosharek 1-1-4, Tarrell 2-0-5, Esser 5-1-11, K. Mueller 1-2-4, C. Kosharek 5-3-15, Drury 0-0-0, Welsh 0-1-1, Kleist 0-0-0. Totals 19-9/13-51 Fouls-21
3 point goals:
R-Couey 4, Mau 2
H-C. Kosharek 2, Tarrell 1, M. Kosharek 1