Girls basketball team takes three losses

The River Valley High School girls basketball team had three games to end December and unfortunately were unable to come away with a victory in the contests. “Two of the three games were extremely competitive and the Blackhawks played at a high level for large portions of the games,” said River Valley head coach Brent Johnson. In the first game, the Blackhawks hosted rival Richland Center in an SWC conference match-up. River Valley and the Hornets battled to a 25 to 21 score at the end of the first half with the Hornets holding the advantage. In the second half, Richland Center pulled away by outscoring River Valley by 10 points to post a 51 -37 victory. The Blackhawks were led by seniors Emily Esser with 10 points and Sophia Haas with 9 points. Nine different players scored for the Blackhawks. River Valley then hosted Barneveld in a non-conference contest. The Blackhawks raced out to a 25 to 14 lead in the first half led by sophomores Charlotte Ferstl and Brooke Anderson who combined for 19 first half points. The Golden Eagles mounted a comeback in the second half and found their scoring touch as they put up 28 points compared to nine for the Blackhawks. The final result was 42 to 34. Ferstl led the Blackhawks with 13 points and Anderson finished with 10 points and Esser chipped in with six points. The final game of December proved to be a rough outing for the Blackhawks. Playing in back to back games and traveling to division two Sauk Prairie, River Valley fell to an athletic and talented Sauk Prairie team. Unable to get anything positive going offensively the Blackhawks fell by a final score of 59 -11.  This takes the girls to a season record of 1-7.  The Blackhawks will be busy to start the new year as they have three games scheduled for the first full week of January. River Valley traveled to Lodi on Tuesday and will travel to Dodgeville on Thursday before hosting Platteville on Saturday.