Baylor's Nick Kurtz blocks an attempted shot by Riverdale's Javon Nelson during their high school basketball at Baylor's Duke Arena. The Red Raiders thumped the visiting Warriors, 62-41, and remained unbeaten after seven games this season. Kurtz also led Baylor in scoring with 17 points.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Riverdale basketball coach Michael Voss has a reason for his scheduling philosophy.
“I’m just trying to schedule good teams,” Voss said Monday night after his previously once-beaten Warriors fell to undefeated Baylor, 62-41, on Austin Clark court in Duke Arena. “Baylor is good, East Hamilton is good and McCallie is good, so you know what you’re getting into.”
Before Monday, Riverdale had won at McCallie (56-45) and at East Hamilton (55-53) in the East-West Classic, two of the better teams in Chattanooga.
The Red Raiders, however, turned out to be a different animal altogether.
Baylor (7-0) stormed to a 19-7 first-quarter lead and built a commanding 37-20 halftime advantage and already had drained three of their seven 3s.
“I don’t think we can play a lot better than we did in the first half,” Baylor’s first-year coach Mark Price said. “We played almost perfectly on both ends. They’re such a good team. They already won nine games and they’ll win a ton more.”
The Red Raiders scored the game’ first seven points and were up 11-5 with 3:53 on the clock. Riverdale, which was without one of its top players – senior Maliek McAllister was in a walking boot (left foot) and in street clothes, got a put-back from Jaylon Wooten.
Baylor then got 3s from Pippenger, who scored 14 points with 10 in the first half, and Chris Moore and a layup off a baseline drive by Lorenzo White and went into the first break with a 12-point lead.
The Warriors’ Rashaad Thompson knocked down a 3 to start the second period. Baylor outscored Riverdale, 15-2, over the next almost five minutes and stretched the margin to 34-12.
Riverdale (9-2) scored eight of the next 11 points and enjoyed a 17-point spread at halftime.
“Jumping on Riverdale early was not necessarily a plan,” said Baylor’s Nick Kurtz, who led the Red Raiders with a game-high 17 points. “With our team, when you get away early don’t take the foot off the pedal and just keep it going. I knew we could get the job done.”
Aside from one substantial blip in the third quarter.
Riverdale came out of the locker room with more aggressive play and attacked the Baylor defense, which held the Warriors to a season-low 41 points.
Brayden Siran, a 7-foot post player who was ineffective against a much smaller Baylor roster, started and ended an 11-0 run with a baby hook and layup to account for four of his six points. In between, made two free throws and a layup while Elijah Cobb dropped a layup and Deron Perry hit a straight-on 3.
That scoring spree, which sliced the Red Raiders’ lead to six points, caused some jittery nerves at the 4:21 mark of the quarter.
“If we didn’t come out and play better in the third quarter, it was going to get really ugly really quick,” Voss said. “I got into them in the locker room and challenged them, and I thought they responded a little bit.
“Look at the first and second halves, we played them about even. The problem is you can’t come out and not be ready to play against good teams. That’s one of the best teams in the state; you come out like we did tonight and you’ll get popped on a nightly basis.”
The balky nerves lasted just a few minutes.
Baylor’s Beyuan Hendricks tossed in three free throws and Ivan Reap made a layup ahead of two free throws by the Warriors’ Javon Nelson, a 6-foot-2, 257-pounder bruiser in the paint. Baylor countered with two White free throws and Hendricks’ steal and drive to the bucket and stretched its lead to 47-33 with 69 seconds left in the quarter.
“We came out a little slow in the third quarter,” Kurtz said, “but we fixed that really quick and got the big lead back. I think we’re mentally tough and had faith that my teammates that we could get the job done.”
Baylor’s run that closed the third period continued into the fourth with two quick buckets and a 51-33-point spread. After Mekas Baker’s field goals the Red Raiders’ advantage was 55-35. Kurtz made a layup, Wiley Pippenger dunked after a Riverdale turnover and the advantage was safely tucked away at 59-37.
The Red Raiders started playing slow-ball after that and cruised down the homestretch for a satisfying victory.
“We didn’t fold when Riverdale made a run at us and I’m prouder of that than I was by our play in the first half,” Price said. “That’s from having seniors on our team. During that stretch I thought Beyuan and Lorenzo just wouldn’t let it happen.”
Scoring Summary
Riverdale 7 13 13 8 – 41
Baylor 19 18 10 15 – 62
Riverdale (41) – Johnson, Crawford, Wooten 3, Elijah Cobb 10, Perry 8, McDaniel, Thompson 9, Whittington, Siran 6, Nelson 5.
Baylor (62) – Pruitt 3, Beyuan Hendricks 11, White 8, Moore 5, Reap 2, Martin, Linderman, Nick Kurtz 17, Wiley Pippenger 14, Baker 2.
3-Point Goals – Riverdale 3 (Perry 2, Thompson 1), Baylor 7 (Hendricks 2, Pippenger 2, Pruitt Moore 1, White 1).
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Wiley Pippenger goes for a dunk in Baylor's 62-41 victory over Riverdale on Monday. Pippenger had two dunks in the first half as the Red Raiders raced to a 37-20 halftime lead and finished with 14 points, 10 of which came in the opening half.
photo by Dennis Norwood