Division V : Riverdale Bounces Back to Upset La Jolla Country Day, 51-47

Riverdale High School needed resilience to beat La Jolla Country Day, 51-47, in the opening round of the Southern California Regional Division V girls’ basketball playoffs Tuesday night at University City High.

The victory sends Riverdale (15-12) to Trona High for the semifinals Thursday. La Jolla Country Day, the San Diego section Division V champion, finished at 20-5.

“They’re, I think, lots better than any team we played in our league,” said Jack Wigley, La Jolla Country Day coach.

The Cowgirls from Riverdale, a town of 2,022 near Fresno,had to adjust to a six-hour bus trip.

They also had to overcome poor shooting, poor ballhandling and a slow start by leading scorer Amy Haire. Throw in Coach George Haire’s two technical fouls and you get the picture.

Both technicals came in the fourth quarter. The first led to guard Robin Chatman’s free throw that capped a 9-2 run, tying the score at 42-42 with 3:51 to play.

Haire’s next technical came with Riverdale ahead, 48-42, but only cost the Cowgirls another Chatman free throw with 1:06 left. La Jolla Country Day missed its next two shots, and that was the game.

While the coach was losing his cool, his daughter kept hers. Amy, who missed her first six shots, scored 10 of Riverdale’s 11 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 16.

Riverdale (15-12) grabbed a seven-point lead, the game’s biggest, with a 16-6 run in the third quarter. Leading the way were Sharla King (17 points, 15 rebounds) and Julie Thomas. Thomas slowed Chatman, who had eight points in the first quarter, 16 overall.

As ragged as Riverdale was at times (the Cowgirls hit 19 of 44 shots from the floor and had 28 turnovers), La Jolla Country Day never took advantage. The Torres had trouble against Riverdale’s traps, committing 30 turnovers and hitting only 15 of 52 field-goal attempts.

La Jolla Country Day, which was without two substitutes who were rehearsing for a play, got 10 rebounds from Amy Coleman and 8 points each from Jocelyn Belise and Isabel Schoepflin.