By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Price was right in the first half of Harding Academy’s 52-47 victory over cross-town rival Riverview on Tuesday at Riverview Activity Center.
Wildcats guard Marshall Price stunned the Raiders defense with five three-pointers in the first half as he scored all of his 15 points and helped Harding Academy build a 34-14 lead. With the victory, the Wildcats (13-3, 5-0) claimed first place in the 2-3A Conference standings.
The Raiders (14-4, 4-1) seized momentum briefly with an 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter before the Wildcats slowed the pace.
“We shot the ball well in the first half, and that helped” Harding Academy coach Brad Francis said. “When we shoot well, things usually go well for us. And you knew they were going to make a run in the second half; you just hope you had enough to hold on.”
Harding Academy kept possession with ball movement down the stretch. The Wildcats also went 5 of 6 at the free-throw line in the final 30 seconds to keep their two-possession margin.
Harding Academy senior post player Daniel Stevens controlled the inside and denied 6-8 Riverview senior post player D.J. Teague from having his way in the lane.
The Wildcats also got a break thanks to a cold night by usually prolific Riverview point guard Keanin Lee, who did not score a point. The Wildcats held Teague to just four points and he sat down early in the fourth quarter with foul trouble.
Harding Academy was 8 of 11 on three-point attempts in the first half.
“They did a good job of going into their spread game and milking the clock down,” Riverview coach Jon Laffoon said. “They made plenty of free throws to get the win, but just the way they shot the ball, really all the credit has to go to them. We tried man, we tried zone; we tried a little matchup zone.
“It didn’t matter; they just kept backing up and hitting them.”
Price broke a 7-7 tie when he scored with 3:19 left in the first quarter, and he scored again less than a minute later. Stevens made an inside basket to extend the Wildcats lead to 15-7.
Price struck again from his spot on the right wing with another three-pointer in the final five seconds to complete an 11-0 Harding Academy run.
Price also made back-to-back threes to start the second quarter.
That finally drew extra attention from the Riverview defense, but Dailey answered with a pair of three pointers, the second of which pushed Harding Academy’s advantage to 34-14 with 1:47 left in the first half.
“Marshall got on a hot streak there, and Lane hit a couple of big ones there in the half,” Francis said. “We were a little bit tough to guard there in the first half with those guys hitting it.”
The Riverview crowd sat mostly silent when Price made his three-pointers to end the first quarter.
But the fans got back into it quickly when Desmond Pettis hit a three pointer to start the fourth quarter and Taylor Smith scored on a rebound and putback to cut Harding Academy’s lead down to 46-35.
Isaac Howard made a three-pointer to cut it to 46-38 with 6:11 left to play, forcing Francis to call time out and regroup.
“I said, ‘Really, we just need one basket, just to break their run,’ ” Francis said
“Either that, or take some time off the clock. We had a couple of possessions where we didn’t do that. Finally late, we got it down to where we did do that.”
The Raiders also had trouble getting offensive rebounds. Teague finished with six rebounds before committing his fourth foul a minute into the fourth quarter, while Stevens led the Wildcats with 11 rebounds and scored six points.
“We do get to see them again,” Laffoon said. “They’re an excellent team — well coached. They do a good job of doing what they do. And tonight, they played a little better than us. We’ve just got to go on and take care of our business and not worry about seeing them again.
“If we get that chance, with the right situation, we’ll be okay.”
Smith led Riverview with 21 points while Rashard Bailey added 16 points. Will Francis and Dailey each had 12 for Harding Academy.
