By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Lincoln’s defensive strategy did not account for Rashard Bailey.
Bailey, Riverview’s sophomore guard and sixth man, electrified the Raiders off the bench as they bashed the Wolves 68-29 in the first-round of the 3A state tournament at Rhodes Field House on the campus of Harding University on Wednesday.
Bailey scored the first of his game-high 23 points with a dunk off a midcourt steal with 3:37 left in the first quarter to give the Raiders (24-5) a 10-2 lead, and they did not let up from there.
The Wolves (13-11) put much of their initial focus on senior guard Taylor Smith. It worked from a scoring standpoint, as Smith finished with a mere four points, but his defensive rebounding and ball distribution made up for his season low scoring total.
“Everybody in this tournament is good,” Riverview coach Jon Laffoon said. “We just came out tonight, and our kids were ready. They did a good job preparing this week. It showed; we played well.”
The victory put the Raiders in Friday’s quarterfinal round against Rivercrest, which also advanced easily with an 81-56 blowout over Prescott in the first round.
Bailey had 11 points by the end of the first period, and he scored seven more before halftime as Riverview built a 22-6 lead after one quarter and a 44-22 lead at the break.
“Rashard is just a phenomenal athlete,” Laffoon said. “He and I have head butted a few times this year — I think he’s finally figured out that he’s going to have to play hard all the time. And when he plays hard, you see what he can do. He’s a great player.”
Smith led with eight rebounds, seven on defense. He also had five assists.
“Taylor’s done that all year,” Laffoon said. “If he has to score, he knows it, and he’ll score. He just wanted to defer and get his teammates the ball tonight. They were focused on him — they trapped him several times early when he got the ball. He recognized it and dumped and dished and kicked out. He did a great job leading us.”
Things turned ugly midway through the fourth quarter when Bailey grabbed a steal and headed for a transition basket and Lincoln forward Dakota Leming brought him to the floor by his throat.
Leming then made comments to Bailey as he was getting up and earned a technical foul.
Leming then infuriated the Raiders fans with a smile toward the home bleachers on his way to the bench.
Laffoon chalked the incident up to passionate play.
“Their kids were playing hard,” Laffoon said. “I wouldn’t have given up the layup either. I thought the kid made a good foul. They’ve got to keep their cool, our guys have to keep their cool, and that’s part of the game.
“Someone’s going to win and someone’s going to lose, and I was just proud of the way their kids kept playing hard and our kids kept playing hard.”
The Friday quarterfinal between Riverview and Rivercrest was hyped as a state final-level game taking place two rounds early.
“They’re good, that’s what I know,” Laffoon said. “They’re a heck of a ball club.
“We’ve got them on film several times, but I didn’t know how good they were until I saw them in person. There’s no question that we’ll have to play at a very high level to compete.
