HS Basketball: River Ridge Girls, Boys Sweep Doubleheader with Black Hills

1/4/25

(Tumwater, WA) Former Evergreen 2A conference foes met for a boys and girls basketball doubleheader on Friday as the River Ridge Hawks made the short trip south to take on the Black Hills Wolves. The girls would be up first with both teams looking to build momentum into league play while the boys would end the night in a battle of two fast paced squads.

River Ridge 58, Black Hills 36 (Girls Basketball)

First up for the night was the girls showdown between River Ridge and Black Hills. In the opening quarter, Brandi Stanford began the game with a three ball but then the offenses went quiet. Neither side could get anything going in their half-court offense as both teams struggled with early turnovers. It was a pretty sloppy and sluggish opening quarter as River Ridge led after one, 7-5.

Then the Hawks began to get going a little bit. The full court press that River Ridge showed the Wolves created numerous turnovers and the Hawks began to take advantage of those turnovers with easy fastbreak points. While Black Hills continued to struggle shooting the ball, the threes began to drop for River Ridge as they hit four of them in the first half with Iris Thomas knocking down two of those triples off of the bench. Natalie Buchanan would do a nice job for Black Hills to keep them in the game with five points on her own in the 2nd. Turnovers still plagues the Wolves as they trailed River Ridge at halftime, 20-10.

Something flipped for both teams in the locker rooms at halftime as the offenses exploded out of the gate in the 3rd quarter. Both teams scored more points in the 3rd quarter than they did in the entire first half. While Tyler Venable began to cook for Black Hills, Jayla Cavalier was out of her mind for River Ridge. The sophomore caught fire from beyond the arc and started raining threes while Brandi Stanford continued to turn steals into points in transition. Despite finding more offensive success, turnovers were still a massive issue for Black Hills. River Ridge put up 28 points in the 3rd quarter to open their lead up to 48-21.

Natalie Buchanan continues to be the star of the show for the Black Hills Wolves. The sophomore was expected to step into a bigger role this season and seemed to get more and more comfortable in this game. Iris Thomas and Jayla Cavalier continued to knock down three after three however to keep Black Hills at a comfortable range for River Ridge to cost across the finish line. While Black Hills won the 4th quarter, it was River Ridge taking home the 58-36 win.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game went to Jayla Cavalier who really lit the spark for River Ridge with her three-point barrage in the second half. cavalier finished with four threes and 14 points in a strong nonleague win for the Hawks.

River Ridge moved to 8-3 on the year and will return to league play with a road game at North Thurston on Wednesday. Black Hills drops to 5-2 on the season and will try to snap their two-game losing streak on Monday when they visit the Rainier Mountaineers.

Scoring

River Ridge: Brandi Stanford 17, Jayla Cavalier 14, Iris Thomas 12, Jada Flynn 5, Dakari Weatherly 4, Mya Armstrong 2, Makiah Wilbourn 2, Kailana Paresa 2

Black Hills: Natalie Buchanan 17, Tyler Venable 10, Ellie Johnson 4, Haley McMahon 3, Kiley McMahon 2

Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)

ESN Postgame Show

River Ridge Begins to Pull Away from Black Hills

Tyler Venable Scores Through Contact to Open 3rd

Cavalier Stays Hot for River Ridge

River Ridge 85, Black Hills 66 (Boys Basketball)

After a fun second half of the girls game, it was the boys turn to take the floor for the nightcap. The up-and-coming River Ridge Hawks were trying to make it six wins in a row while Black Hills would look to try to run their own winning streak to three games before the start of league play.

A monster alley-oop from Jacob Wendell to Dominique Harper began the game with authority for River Ridge. Not only did they have the 6’6 Harper to dominate the paint with, but the Hawks also showcased their talented shooting from beyond the arc with Joaquin Garcia. Black Hills worked slowly into their games but outside of a Peyton Faught three, couldn’t get much going in terms of offense consistently. Free throw shooting was also an issue for Black Hills early as River Ridge held a 21-10 lead after a quarter of play.

River Ridge slowed down a bit in the 2nd quarter on offense but the Hawks defense quieted any comeback bid from Black Hills. Dominique Harper continued to be the most reliable scorer for River Ridge but his height also kept the Wolves off of the boards and held them to a lot of one and dones on offense. Late in the 2nd, James Morgan changed things for Black Hills. The sophomore began to work into a very nice groove on the offensive end as he very quickly rattled off nine points. The late surge kept things relatively close as River Ridge took a 38-22 lead into halftime.

Quarter number three would once again be a sprint between both teams as the offenses exploded for both sides. James Morgan continued to score at will for Black Hills as other got going on that end with Quinton and Talon Morrill getting going. The story of the 3rd quarter however was Zachary Ward. Ward began to knock down three after three as he scored 11 points in the quarter. Everyone else continued to be consistent for River Ridge they survived the onslaught from Morgan and Faught in the 3rd. Heading to the 4th quarter, it would be a 67-44 lead for River Ridge.

Nothing could stop the Hawks from closing out their sixth straight win. Ani Hicks took over in the pain for Dominique Harper and scored six points in the 4th while also dominating on the glass. John Buchanan also played a very strong final quarter as the River Ridge defense continued to stymie the Wolves on offense. With the game decided, both teams emptied their benches late in the game as River Ridge put the icing on the cake. When the final horn sounded, it was officially an 85-66 win for River Ridge.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game went to Dominique Harper for River Ridge. The 6’6 junior began the game with the monster slam and continued to dominate the paint after that. He would finish with a team-high 18 points in what was a strong, statement win for the Hawks.

With the win, River Ridge moves to 7-4 on the season and will host North Thurston on Wednesday at 7pm. Black Hills dropped this one and a Saturday game to Mark Morris as they now sit at 5-5. The Wolves begin league play on Wednesday when they host Shelton at 7pm.

Scoring

River Ridge: Dominique Harper 18, Zachary Ward 14, Joaquin Garcia 12, Ryzen Nunez 10, John Buchanan 6, Alex Jones 6, Jacob Wendell 6, Ani Hicks 6, Ethan Thomas 5, Jayce Choi 2

Black Hills: James Morgan 22, Peyton Faught 14, Quinton Morrill 7, Talon Morrill 6, Jaxsen Beck 6, Kona Bell 3, Kendell Roberson 2, Kenneth Bell 2, Cash Buhre 2, Tristen DeVille 1

Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)

ESN Postgame Show