By GARY DOVE
for the Daily Telegraph
BRADSHAW — The first dozen minutes of Friday night’s Mount View-River View girls’ basketball game was very competitive, featuring three ties and an equal number of lead changes.
From the 3:22 mark of the second chapter until only 2:30 remained in the third, the cart took off, or the wheels fell off the cart, depending on one’s perspective.
With 3:38 showing before halftime, Mount View junior Kaitlyn Gillespie sank a pair of free throws to ease the Lady Knights back into the lead, at 17-15.
From that point until intermission, the Lady Raiders scored the final 15 points of the half to take a 30-17 advantage at the break.
Junior Lindsay Meade, who scored six points during that 3:22 stretch, was followed by sophomore Lakyn Lambert’s 5 markers to lead the charge.
Fellow junior Katie Dobbs canned 5 of her game high 18 points in the initial 5:30 of the third, as River View expanded that 15-0 run to 24 consecutive points for a 39-17 lead.
With the game out of reach midway through the fourth, the Lady Knights made a 13-6 run to make the final score 60-37.
Veteran Mount View head coach Harold Smith was exasperated with his young team’s play, “We’re up and down. We have so much to learn. We have a whole lot of improvements to make.”
He pointed to the lack of a place, such as open gyms in the summer, and not having any AAU basketball teams in McDowell County as hindrances for all students as far as gaining much needed experience.
River View (11-5) head coach Gehrig Justice was disappointed with the slow start of the Lady Raiders, “Slow start again. Before the game, they (players) were all laughing and not focused. Obviously the first quarter showed that. We’ve got to be more focused from the start. We’ve got to take that edge and play from the first moment.”
Lady Knight senior Jasmine Lash, who led her club with 16 points, scored 7 of the first 8 Mount View points to open the game before picking up her third personal with less than a minute remaining in the inaugural frame and departing for a seat on the bench.
While Lash did most of the Lady Knight scoring early, Roberts matched her total of seven points during that back-and-forth span.
After River View kicked the cart into gear, the Lady Knights went 9:28 without scoring a point, and 12:32 without notching a field goal.
Dobbs, Roberts and Meade all scored in double figures for the 11-5 Lady Raiders, recording 18, 17 and 14 points respectively.
Lash ended her evening with 16 points to top Mount View (4-7), followed by Gillespie’s 11.
The Lady Golden Knights are now 4-7 and will visit Montcalm Tuesday.
River View will entertain Van in the opener of a girls’-boys’ doubleheader next Thursday.

at River View High School
MOUNT VIEW (4-7)
Lisa Johnson 0 1-2 1, Jasmine Lash 6 0-0 16, Kaitlyn Gillespie 1 9-10 11, Chantel Vineyard 1 0-4 2, Paige Short 1 0-1 2, Knoraa Brown 0 0-2 0, Jordan Finley 1 0-0 3, Destiny Robertson 1 0-3 2. Totals 11 10-22 37.
RIVER VIEW (11-5)
Kiersten Roberts 6 4-6 17, Emily Golden 0 1-2 1, Paige Cooper 0 2-4 2, Lakyn Lambert 1 5-5 8, Lindsay Meade 6 2-2 14, Katie Dobbs 7 4-9 18. Totals 20 18-28 60.
Mount View......................10 7 7 13 — 37
River View........................8 22 16 14 — 60
3-point goals: MV 5 Lash 4, Finley 1); RV 2 (Roberts 1, Lambert 1). Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.