The annual girls basketball event hosted by River View over the Christmas break is back again with a slight change in format.
This year the event will be known as the Little General Showcase at River View High School and will be played Wed. Dec. 29 and Thurs. Dec. 30.
Previous tournaments featured a championship and consolation game on the final day. This year however, the match ups for both days are predetermined.
“We started it the first year that the school came into existence and it was a regular tournament with winners and losers playing. Last year we didn’t have it because of Covid,” River View head coach Gehrig Justice.
Along with the Raiders, the 2021 Little General Showcase will feature defending Class A state champion Tug Valley, undefeated Tolsia and Richlands, Va.
“We have had some one-day shootouts before, but this year we decided to change the format and hopefully get two really quality games in for both days,” Justice explained. “I think we have done that this year.
The first day will feature River View playing Tolsia at 2 p.m. and Richlands battling Tug Valley at 4 p.m.
Tolsia and Richlands will open the action Thursday at 2 p.m. with the River View and Tug Valley showdown set for the 4 p.m. contest.
The opening game for the Raiders will be a rematch with the Rebels from earlier in the season at Tolsia. Playing its first game of the season and coming off of a Covid quarantine, River View dropped a 52-48 heartbreaker.
“We knew we were going to be a little rusty. We were in the game, but didn’t play well at all,” Justice said. “We felt like if we had played there as well as we did at Summers County a couple of weeks ago that we might have won. It’s just the hand that you’re dealt. We hope this time we are a little better.”
Tolsia built a slight lead in the third quarter of the season opener and held on down the stretch for the win.
“(Head coach) Ric Marrone always has a team that is well prepared and is fundamentally sound. The big thing that got us was they made their foul shots down the stretch and we didn’t,” Justice said. “Both teams were in foul trouble, but we missed some opportunities with some of their players on the bench.”
Autumn Block led the Rebels that night with 20 points and Kerigan Salmons added 12.
“He has four good players. The Salmons girl plays on the wing and is a strong, physical player. She is probably their best player,” Justice said. “Block was who hurt us at Tolsia. She hit a big 3 and made the foul shots down the stretch that help them.”
Block went 8-for-9 at the line in the final quarter.
The host team will enter the contest in a slightly similar situation as the first meeting, having not played in two weeks.
“We played Mount View a couple weeks back and then we had a positive Covid case. We have been out since,” Justice said. “It’s just some bad luck. If you test positive there is not much that you can do about.”
River View (4-2) is led by junior first-team all-stater Trista Lester who averages just over 14 points per game to go along with five rebounds and seven steals.
Haylie Payne is nearly averaging a double-double scoring 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Senior Ali Morgan is the top scorer for River View at 15.6 points per game.
Tug Valley comes to Bradshaw as a bit of an unknown product this year. The Panthers are 0-2, but the losses are to AAAA Parkersburg and AAA Robert C. Byrd.
Ironically for River View, a three game stretch last year that involved Tug Valley and Tolsia helped jump-start the Raiders to a state tournament run. Justice is hoping for a similar boost this year.
“Last year, played down at Tolsia and lost by 10 or 12 points the fist time. We beat Mercer the next night and then lost to Tug the following day,” Justice said. “That three game stretch last year is what helped us realize we were pretty good.”
