Lady Colts fourth quarter effort, Burks’ 30 spur win

WILSON – For three and one half quarters it appeared neither the Rivercrest Lady Colts or Newport were going to seize control of the basketball game Friday.

Up until that point there had been eight ties and 15 lead changes in the game where the biggest margin had been six points.

However, as Rivercrest coach Ronnie Dye implores his players regularly, “Trust the process”.

That the Lady Colts (14-8, 7-1 3A-3) did and the home team beat Newport, 63-56, to take a firm hold of second place in the 3A-3 behind Manila.

“I told them at half-time,” said the head coach. “’just trust the process. The plan is to pressure them for three quarters and outrun them in the fourth.

“We could sense (New-port) was really tired,” he continued. “Their bigs were wearing down, their shots were coming up short. The fourth quarter was ours.”

Indeed it was.

The Lady Colts outscored the visitors 15-7 leading by as many as nine points with 50 seconds to go. They held Newport to a single basket – a three-pointer by Lexi Hembry –that came with less than a minute to go. The balance of the Lady Greyhounds scoring in the final period was from the free throw line.

It was Destiny Burks’ free throws with 5:37 to play that put Rivercrest ahead for good at 50-49.

The senior accounted for 30 of her team’s points marking the third time this season she has reached that total or more.

“We all know what Dee Dee is capable of,” said her head coach of her scoring, “but she was also active on the glass and defense tonight, too.”

Burks’ 10 rebounds and five steals were testament to that.

And with Newport’s lineup featuring Deya Jack-son and Niya Davis, two talented post players, the Colts needed a big effort inside to match the Lady Greyhounds size.

Senior Gabby Harris came off the bench to score eight points and grab 10 rebounds – seven on the offensive end, while Lakiya Speed matched Harris’ point total and had seven rebounds of her own.

“Gabby’s a strong player,” described Dye, “and she’s learning to use that strength more and more. She’s had some really good games for us the last couple of weeks. Definitely has come alive on the offensive boards and putting the ball in the hole.”

It’s that kind of performance the team needs as it starts its stretch run in the regular season.

“Gabby, Speed and Ella (Gonzalez) are gonna have to come up big for us here in these last few weeks,” explained Dye, “because the defense is gonna keep coming out on Dee Dee trying to take her shot away.”

Burks, who is a threat from deep, scored 12 points on threes with the rest coming on moves to the basket and free throws. That was the recipe in the first half when she scored 19 of her 30 points.

Senior Jalexia Young contributed nine points, had four of the Lady Colts 16 steals, and dished out four assists.

Jackson was tops for Newport with 14 points and 11 boards, while Hembry scored 13 and ac-counted for three assists. Davis finished with double digit rebounds, too, with 11 and added six points.

“I’m glad this game was here,” concluded Dye. “There was a lot of energy in this place and girls fed off it.”

Rivercrest had a home game against conference frontrunner Manila Monday which will determine if the Lady Lions will earn an outright regular season title.