The James River girls are still looking for their first win after dropping two Three Rivers District games last week. The Knights lost to Auburn and Giles, both on the road.

In Riner the host Eagles took a 41-26 win over River. The Knights were up 15-13 at the half but couldn’t finish it off.

“We played really good defense in the first half and were moving well,” said coach Mark Eubank. “We came out in the third quarter and lost some of that intensity.”

River trailed 25-23 after three quarters but was outscored 16-3 in the fourth. The Eagles made their free throws in the waning minutes as River was forced to foul.

Kaitlyn Johnson scored a season high 13 points for River while shooting 50 percent from the field and 75 percent from the foul line. Brittany Crawford pulled down seven rebounds.

On Friday the Knights traveled to Giles for the second meeting of the season between the new district foes. Giles swept the season series with a 66-31 win.

Again, River competed early but couldn’t hang with the Spartans. The Knights trailed by 11, 30-19, when they committed four straight turnovers and Giles went on a 12-0 run to end the first half.

“To be down 10 or 11 we were within striking distance but they increased the lead within the last two minutes of the first half and that really changed the game,” said Eubank. “They used a zone trap and we were prepared for it and got some really good looks out of it, but we didn’t convert enough.”

Brittany Crawford led River with six points, six rebounds and two steals.

“I was proud of the fact that we had double digit offensive rebounds and forced nine steals, but we have to take care of the ball for four quarters, not just for a few minutes at a time,” said Eubank.

River was scheduled to play Glenvar at home on Tuesday, and that was the first home game for the girls in 20 days. On Friday River is at Radford and next Tuesday, Jan. 31, the girls play host to Floyd County.