By LLOYD COMBS
for the Daily Telegraph
COUNCIL, Va. — River View created the havoc it set out to do in the open floor, but the havoc it created on the boards helped the Raiders craft a win.
River View forced 25 turnovers to get a modest lead and crashed the boards with a vengeance to pull away to a 71-52 win over Council in an interstate battle Tuesday night.
The Raiders forced 17 turnovers in the first half alone, but held just a 27-22 lead when the board work of 6-foot-6 senior Jonah Baker fueled a 14-0 run to close out the first half and give the visitors their margin of victory.
River View (3-0) out-rebounded the Cobras 51-27, with 23 of those boards coming on the offensive end of the floor. Baker had 11 of his 16 rebounds in the second period, when the Raiders claimed 13 offensive boards.
“Our motto is 32 minutes of havoc,” River View coach Roger Hale said. “I don’t know if we had 32 minutes of havoc tonight, but our pressure helps us.
“We live and die by the pressure and rebounds, and I think the rebounding did make the difference.”
Baker also blocked seven shots, but battled foul trouble.
“He got in foul trouble, but we got guards that can play down low and we were aggressive. Like I told them from the get-go, our motto is 32 minutes of havoc,” added Hale.
Tyree Baker scored 22 points, Jonathan Hatcher tossed in 15 and Brian Mitchell added 13 points for River View.
Andrew Gobble scored 18 points, Austin Shepherd tallied 11 and Nate Barton added nine for the Cobras, who had no answer for the Raiders inside.
“They killed us on the boards,” Council coach Jeremy Ratliff said. “They’re just so much bigger than we are and we didnt do a good job boxing them out.”
River View scored the first six points of the second half to build its biggest lead, 47-22, and struggled to make shots the rest of the way.
“I don’t know if we came in flat or what,” said Hale. “We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we feel like we can. But give Council credit, they’ve got a scrappy team, they play hard.”
River View will play Riverside in the Hoops Classic on Friday at West Virginia State at 3:30 p.m.

RIVER VIEW (3-0)
T. Baker 22, Coeburn 4, J. Baker 6, Mitchell 13, Morgan 4, Hatcher 15, Jordan 0, Cooper 7, Stamper 0, Click 0.
COUNCIL
Gobble 18, Shepherd 11, David D. Boyd 8, Barton 9, Stevens 2, David M. Boyd 0, Perkins 0, Ball 1 Harris 3, Rasnake 0.
River View.....................22 19 15 15 -- 71
Council..........................17 5 11 19 -- 52
3-point goals-RV 7 (T. Baker 3, Mitchell 3, Cooper), C 5 (Barton 3, Shepherd, Harris).