With its star player on crutches, Riverview had to dig deep to earn its latest Section 4-2A girls basketball victory.
It took a little extra to earn a split with Jeannette and stay in second place.
“We have to play for Isabel,” Raiders freshman guard Mia Murphy said of senior guard Isabel Chaparro. “We’re better when we all play together.”
Rallying around Chaparro, who injured her ankle late in the first half and did not return, the Raiders regained a lead they lost in the fourth quarter and held back Jeannette, 55-50, in a game of runs Thursday night in Oakmont.
Chaparro, the second-leading scorer in the WPIAL at 28 points per game, crashed to the court while trying to defend against a layup with 6.4 seconds left in the second quarter. The Mary Washington recruit writhed in pain in a gym that went church quiet for several minutes.
She was taken to Children’s Hospital after the game for observation, so her playing status is unclear for now.
Chaparro has 907 career points.
“It hurts to see something like that happen,” Riverview coach Andre Carter said. “We played a lot of young girls, and they didn’t give up. They played their butts off. We said (at halftime), let’s play for Izzy. I am so happy for them.”
Riverview (8-6, 4-2) saw Jeannette (11-5, 2-3), which beat the Raiders, 43-26, a week earlier, take its first lead with a 14-0 run to start the fourth quarter.
The Jayhawks, led by senior Navarah Smith’s season-high 28 points — and 10 steals — went ahead 45-39 with 4 minutes, 39 seconds remaining.
But the Raiders didn’t rest, and they didn’t go away.
They responded with a 9-0 run to go back on top, with 5-foot-10 senior center Lana Lynch scoring off a long lob from junior Juliette Brun, drawing contact and making the foul shot to give the Raiders a 48-45 edge with 3:06 left.
“Lana played her best all-around game of the season,” Carter said.
Murphy scored five straight points, including a low-lining 3-pointer, and Brun finished a fast break to increase the advantage to 54-47.
Carter could feel his team’s energy and made sure it remained high.
“Whenever I scream at the girls it’s because I know what they can do,” Carter said. “They saw me yell tonight, but they saw me smile. They are very resilient — a great group.”
Neither team made a field goal inside the final 50 seconds, but junior Blake Huffman grabbed two key offensive rebounds off missed free throws to help Riverview hang on.
“We had trouble with their 1-3-1 zone at their place. It scared us,” Carter said. “But we practiced for it, and that helped us. We went man to man. In the second half, we had to play as a team.”
Jeannette, having its best regular season in more than a decade, had 19 points in the fourth but couldn’t come back a second time and saw a three-game winning streak end.
“(Riverview) put their heads together and did it for (Chaparro),” Jeannette coach Jenna Lusby said. “She’s a great player. She’s always a positive player. Those girls respect her as a leader. It’s terrible to see her get hurt.
“We didn’t play a complete game. It came down to who wanted it more. It took all 32 minutes to beat them (last week). We have to learn to slow it down a little more.”
Smith scored 10 in the third as Jeannette chipped away at a 10-point deficit (37-27).
She scored off a steal, then put back a miss to tie it 27-27, but Murphy hit a 3 and Huffman scored off a feed from Murphy as part of a 10-0 Raiders run.
Murphy, who had 11 in the second half, made two free throws to give Riverview a 39-31 lead going to the fourth.
Murphy and Lynch tied for a team high with 14 points.
Huffman added 10, and Chaparro finished with nine on three 3s.
Sophomore Leah DeFelice started Jeannette’s 14-0 run in the fourth with a 3 and a fast-break layup. She finished with 10 points, and senior Abby Shaw fouled out with eight.
It was 11-11 after the first quarter, and Riverview took a 22-19 edge into the half.
“As much as it sucks to lose, we can learn from this,” Lusby said. “We’re still working on possession and playing (with the lead). We didn’t respond when we needed to. We let this one seep through the cracks.”
Smith finished 8 for 11 from the foul line.