Walking Tall: Powell, Trickett stand ground as Riverside advances past South Pointe
Riverside forward Sophia Powell cuts down the net after her Lady Warriors downed South Pointe in the upper state semifinals. Powell was stellar defensively in the win.
Sophia Powell has no problem punching above her weight.
The Riverside Lady Warrior sophomore has emerged as a powerful paint presence. Against South Pointe in the Class 4-A upper-state semifinals, Powell was tasked with perhaps her toughest defensive assignment of the season.
Powell stared down one of the state’s best freshmen—6-foot-tall JaNyia Cunningham—and put on a defensive masterclass. She helped hold Cunningham to just nine points, well below her average of 17.5 per game.
Riverside upset the No. 1 ranked Stallions, 63-61.
“The biggest thing for me was just making sure I didn’t foul,” said Powell. “Just try to get around my assignment and be straight up.”
Powell is far from the biggest forward, standing at 5-foot-10 and weighing a good bit less than most players she guards each game. But it’s Powell’s tenacity on the court, says Riverside head coach Brianne Jones, that makes up for what she lacks in size.
“There was one point in the game [against South Pointe] where their girls were telling [Cunningham] ‘you’ve got to work harder,’ and she was like, ‘I’m working as hard as I can,’” said Jones.
“Sophia was just making it so hard on her all game.”
“When girls on the other team are in my ear during the game talking trash, it gets me more fired up,” said Powell. “It makes me want to go that much harder.”
Powell put up 11 points in the win, while fellow forward Elly Trickett added 13 of her own. Their impacts were hardly reflected on the stat sheets, however.
Powell and Trickett held at bay a South Pointe team used to getting whatever it wanted down low. It may not be seen in the numbers, but the pair’s defensive performance made all the difference.
“We fronted them well, but it’s not just us,” said Trickett. “Our guards did a great job coming in and giving us help from the back. That’s what really shut them down.”
With the win, Riverside’s girls moved one step closer to clinching their first state championship in program history. They’re two games away from making it a reality.
The next obstacle standing in their way? A 24-3 Westside team with, again, one of the state’s most dominant post players. The Rams boast 6-foot-5 center Khalia Hartwell who averages a near double-double.
Hartwell has been touted as one of the top freshmen in the country.
Powell and Trickett have their work cut out for them.
“We’re keeping the same mindset we’ve kept all season,” said Trickett. “We know what we’re going to do. And yeah, we might be a little undersized, but I think that when you look at the way we play, we play a lot taller than we actually are.”
“We’ve put in a lot of time in training and film preparing,” said Powell. “I think it’s going to show on Wednesday.”
Riverside and Westside tip off from the Florence Center in Florence at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28.
THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
South Pointe 15 18 10 18 - 61
Riverside 15 18 18 12 - 63
RIVERSIDE STAT LEADERS
Kyndal Haroski - 16 points, 2 assists
Madison Garrido - 13 points, 4 assists, 3 steals
Elly Trickett - 13 points, 8 rebounds
Sophia Powell - 11 points, 4 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks