On Friday night, River played host to Glenvar in the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader with the Highlanders. The boys’ game was originally scheduled for Thursday, but moved back a day when a storm was expected for Thursday evening.
Glenvar, a Three Rivers District rival, came to Springwood with a 9-2 record and one of the area’s top players in Stephen Barber. The Highlanders led at the end of each of the first three quarters, but River finished strong and took a 50-47 win.
“Glenvar gave us all we could handle,” said River coach Ethan Humphries. “Pretty early we felt the weird vibe that was eerily similar to last year’s playoff game (won by Glenvar at the buzzer). We were in a funk all game but, to edge that one out had all to do with our guys’ willingness to win and a little luck from the basketball gods.”
Corey Easton led the Knights with 13 points and seven rebounds. Patrick Clevenger had 12 points and seven boards and Jayson Easton had 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
That game ended around 9 p.m. and the Knights were scheduled to play in Floyd County in the Chance Harman Classic at 9 a.m. Saturday. River was originally given that slot because the Knights weren’t scheduled to play Friday, but Thursday’s weather changed all that.
The Knights must have gotten some good sleep Friday as they jumped off to a 41-18 halftime lead against Carroll County on Saturday morning. River had 31 assists on their 34 field goals in the win as River took an 88-34 decision. Corey Easton had eight assists, Clevenger had seven to go with 25 points and Jayson Easton had six assists and 20 points, 15 coming on five three-pointers. Ryan Steger had 12 points and won the Chance Harman Three-Point Shooting contest.
“Saturday’s game was good to get back on track shooting the ball after our two-game slump,” said Humphries. “Turning around after a very tight Friday night game and playing at 9 a.m. in Floyd was good for our guys to go out and have fun.”
River also played Floyd County last Wednesday and took a 71-52 win behind 21 points from Clevenger and 17 by Jayson Easton. Corey Easton had 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.
“We had a great week of basketball and started off district play the right way,” said Humphries. “We are still learning a lot about ourselves. Floyd and Glenvar are two of the better teams in the state in 2A. To tackle both of them in a three-day span was tough, but our district is pretty loaded this year.”
River had a Tuesday game with Carroll postponed this week. The Knights will host Radford on Thursday.
