By GARY DOVE
for the Daily Telegraph
WELCH — McDowell County rivals River View and Mount View squared off Wednesday evening in a girls’ basketball game on the Ergie Smith Court at the Castle.
The Lady Raiders pulled out the win 36-28 in a contest that was tied at 12 at halftime.
River View took a 3-2 lead with 5:09 showing in the initial quarter before the Lady Knights scored seven straight points to turn that one point deficit into a 9-3 lead.
Junior Kaitlyn Gillespie started the string with a three from the right wing, followed by senior Jasmine Lash’s deuce from the opposite wing and a put-back by junior Destiny Robertson.
RV junior Katie Dobbs laid in a left-handed drive to cut the deficit to 9-5 after the inaugural eight minutes.
That Dobbs two stopped a 5:44 field goal drought over the first period by the Lady Raiders that was eclipsed in the second when they went 7:36 without a fielder.
Not to be outdone, the Lady Knights didn’t make a field goal for 10:35 of the opening half, from the 3:32 mark of the first until the 57 second point before intermission.
Dobbs’ two foul shots with 5:20 showing in the second marked the first of three ties in the game, and put River View on top for keeps.
Junior Lindsay Meade keyed a 15-4 Lady Raider run to open the third, knocking down seven of her ten points during that stretch.
Mount View refused to throw in the towel, clawing back to within four, at 30-26, with 4:19 left in the game, and again at the 3:50 mark.
Lash sank two freebies at the 4:19 mark before hitting a running bank shot 29 ticks later for the final four point deficit.
Junior Paige Cooper, who had been relegated to a spot on the bench much of the second half after picking up her fourth personal foul, scored on a Dobbs’ assist with 2:04 left to stretch the advantage to 34-28. That deuce came after the visitors had taken over a minute off the clock.
Freshman Brittany Rowe scored at the 1:23 juncture to close out the 36-28 win.
River View head coach Gehrig Justice related some his team’s problems may have come from over confidence.
“You compare scores. You come in and you think it’s going to be easy,” Justice said. “Mount View’s always going to play us hard. We didn’t play in a rhythm again.”
Lady Knights veteran head coach Harold Smith attributed his club’s struggles to inexperience.
“Playing with freshmen. It’s tough. It’s just tough. I have three experienced girls,” he said.
Exacerbating Coach Smith’s concerns is the fact that he currently has no assistant coach and has to do everything himself. Late in the game, center Destiny Robertson had to come out with a leg injury, and Smith had to attend to her, rather than coaching in a game that was within six points at that time.
Dobbs led the Lady Raiders with a dozen points, followed by Meade’s 10 and River View improved to 8-3.
Lash paced Mount View with 14 points and the Lady Knights dropped to 2-4.
River View will visit PikeView Friday evening, while Mount View will travel to Mingo Central.

At The Castle
RIVER VIEW (8-3)
Kiersten Roberts 2 0-2 5, Emily Golden 1 0-0 2, Paige Cooper 2 0-0 4, Lindsay Meade 3 4-6 10, Brittany Rowe 1 0-0 2, Brianna Bailey 0 1-2 1, Katie Dobbs 3 6-12 12. Totals 12 11-22 36.
MOUNT VIEW (2-4)
Jasmine Lash 4 5-8 14, Kaitlyn Gillespie 3 1-2 8, Destiny 1 0-3 2, Chantel Vineyard 1 0-0 2, Kenisha Swanson 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 6-13 28.
River View........................5 7 15 9 — 36
Mount View......................9 3 7 9 — 28
3-point goals: RV 1 (Roberts 1), MV 2 (Lash 1, Gillespie 1).