Riverhawks Crowned Champs at Annual Border Battle Tournament

Taking home their first trophy of the year, the Riverhawks participated in the Border Battle Tournament this past weekend and came out with the gold. A total of six teams engaged in the tournament from both W. Va. colleges and Ohio colleges. The W. Va. Bracket consisted of WVU Parkersburg, West Virginia Wesleyan and Ohio Valley University. The Ohio Bracket consisted of Eastern Gateway Community College, Washington State Community College and Hocking College.

The first game of the tournament, played on Friday, Feburary 18 on the OVU campus, was WVU Parkersburg vs. the OVU JV squad. While the Riverhawks were only leading by six at halftime, they came back the second half to win by 34 pts; 109-75. “We weren’t playing as a team the first half. But we came back the second half as a team and you can see the results when we play as a team,” Coach Louis Roy said.

The second day of the tournament began with WSCC and Hocking. Hocking came out with the win 72-43. WVU Parkersburg then overtook Wesleyan 92-71 qualifying the Riverhawks for the championship game. Hocking placed itself in the championship after slipping by EGCC 93-92 in overtime. However, EGCC didn’t leave with a total loss. They dominated their game against WSCC winning 85-53.

At 6:00 p.m. the title match up between WVU Parkersburg and Hocking took place. Hocking won the tip off and scored the first two points of the game. But, that lead did not last long when the Riverhawks decided to pull away and lead with the halftime score of 43-29.
Coming back from halftime, HCC seemed to pushing through the Riverhawks within the first few minutes of the half. The time clock read 18:31 and the Riverhawks had still not made a shot making Hocking only trail by seven. However the power of the Riverhawks was never fully was brought down. It seemed clear that the Riverhawks were going all the way when #23 Rodney Shawver received a breakaway leading the Hocking players to call a timeout with the score being 19 points and only eight minutes left in the game.

The Riverhawks took home the gold winning 99-78. “We have talent when we work as a team,” Coach Roy said.

Riverhawks Swoop Down on OU Zanesville

The Riverhawks took on the Ohio University Zanesville Bobcats once again. However, this time the Riverhawks came out with a win, 107-76. “This was a big win for use as a team. We played them early in the season before we really knew each other and this game displayed how much we have improved as a team,” #20 Brandon Roe said.

At the start of the game the Riverhawks were not sticking to their plays. Instead, taking the ball down the court and passing the ball one or two times seemed like the most action that the Riverhawks were giving on offense.

Coach Roy was getting riled up on the courtside and called a timeout to get the team back on track. “Move the ball around,” was the main issue Coach Roy told the players during the timeout.

Right before halftime Roe stole the ball from Bobcat #14 Jarod Cox and took the ball slowly down the court for a lay-up. However, Roe turned around and fouled Cox right after. Cox made both to basically cancel out Roe’s big steal.

Foul shots were a big part of the game for Riverhawk #45 Camaron Lancaster. He went up to the line six times during the game and missed more than half of his shots. At the completion of the game he joked to his father that Camaron was glad he was taught how to shoot foul shots well.

Even though Lancaster had a rough time with foul shots, he had 12 blocks and 11 rebounds during the game. Number 31 Keith Penn was the top scorer with 31 points, with #46 Sean Michael next in line with 24 points.

The Riverhawks next game is Feb. 18 at Ohio Valley University.

Missing Starters, Riverhawks Fall to OU Lancaster

by Abbie Sweeney
With the Riverhawks out with two starters,#45 Cameron Lancaster and #40 Alex Tracewell, the Ohio University Lancaster game still had to be won. However, the Riverhawks didn’t accomplish this goal. They lost the game 95-81. “It was one of our worst games this year,” #31 Keith Penn said. “We didn’t play as a team.”

Tracewell was out with an ankle injury from practice, but still went to watch his teammates and keep stats. “It was so hard to sit out the game,” Tracewell said.

While two Riverhawks were out, Riverhawk Sean Michael was back after injuring his knee in the Wesleyan game weeks before. He came back playing rough with four fouls and still a minute to go in the first half.

The game started with the Bobcats scoring a three-pointer right from the jump ball. With only 10 seconds after OUL pointing points on the board, #24 Eric Bohman from OUL fouled Penn. Penn made one of the two foul shots then the Riverhawks managed to receive the rebound and Michael shot a three-pointer allowing the Riverhawks to take the lead 4-3. That lead didn’t last very long. At halftime the Bobcats were leading 51-33.

Number 23 Rodney Shawver had an off game by missing the basic lay-ups. He had three breakaways in the first half and missed all three. “He normally makes those,” Tracewell said. However, Shawver came back with blocking a shot to take the ball back down the court and assist #20 Brandon Roe on an inside shot.

The top scorers for the game were Penn with 27 and #21 Anthony Caplinger with 16. Both players were tied at halftime with ten points each, but Penn seemed to have a stronger second half.

Riverhawks Fall to Bobcats on the Road

by Abbie Sweeney

With the Riverhawks out with two starters,#45 Cameron Lancaster and #40 Alex Tracewell, the Ohio University Lancaster game still had to be won. However, the Riverhawks didn’t accomplish this goal. They lost the game 95-81. “It was one of our worst games this year,” #31 Keith Penn said. “We didn’t play as a team.”

Tracewell was out with an ankle injury from practice, but still went to watch his teammates and keep stats. “It was so hard to sit out the game,” Tracewell said.

While two Riverhawks were out, Riverhawk Sean Michael was back after injuring his knee in the Wesleyan game weeks before. He came back playing rough with four fouls and still a minute to go in the first half.

The game started with the Bobcats scoring a three-pointer right from the jump ball. With only 10 seconds after OUL pointing points on the board, #24 Eric Bohman from OUL fouled Penn. Penn made one of the two foul shots then the Riverhawks managed to receive the rebound and Michael shot a three-pointer allowing the Riverhawks to take the lead 4-3. That lead didn’t last very long. At halftime the Bobcats were leading 51-33.

Number 23 Rodney Shawver had an off game by missing the basic lay-ups. He had three breakaways in the first half and missed all three. “He normally makes those,” Tracewell said. However, Shawver came back with blocking a shot to take the ball back down the court and assist #20 Brandon Roe on an inside shot.

The top scorers for the game were Penn with 27 and #21 Anthony Caplinger with 16. Both players were tied at halftime with ten points each, but Penn seemed to have a stronger second half.