Lady Rebels are off to great start after Upton tournament

The Riverside Lady Rebels didn’t disappoint this past weekend at the Upton tournament.  

The girls opened their season against Hulett, winning 49-5.    

Belle Starbuck led the pack in 3-pointers, hitting 3 of 7, with Johnna Clifford right behind her with two 3’s.  Clifford also helped boost her team with eight defensive rebounds.  Brooklynn Paxton tied a Riverside girls record with 11 steals and led in scoring with 14 points.  Ada Pratt followed with eight points for the team. 

The second game of the weekend had the Rebels facing Midwest where they again dominated, 64-13.  “The girls continued to play great team basketball in a situation where some would have settled for less,” commented coach Jason Mitchell.  The team was led by Paxton with 20 points, and Ada Pratt not far behind with 12.  

Varissa Olsen added eight rebounds, including six at the offensive end, to go along with eight points. Vinaya VanderPloeg led in minutes played on day one, but only two turnovers in the opening pair of games.

The girls played their first Saturday game against Arvada-Clearmont, winning 46-31.  VanderPloeg had an extremely efficient day with nine points on only five shot attempts.  Paxton had another good performance with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists.

The Lady Rebels last game of the weekend was against Upton, where they fell a little short, 36-29.  Riverside led after one, at the half and into the third quarter when Upton connected on 6-of-7 shots, including four 3-pointers, to seize control of the game.

Despite their best performance of the weekend on the defensive end, the offense struggled to keep up. Riverside shot 11% from the 3-point line and had 19 turnovers, providing a few too many opportunities for the #2 ranked Upton team. The Lady Rebels were led by Paxton with 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Clifford had eight points. 

The Riverside Lady Rebels will be at the Wrangler tournament in Shoshoni Friday and Saturday.  They’ll face Farson at 11:30 and Shoshoni at 5:30. Saturday’s game times were unavailable at press time.