T-L Photo/RICK THORP River’s Riley Lollathin (2) drives to the basket Monday night. Lollathin scored 15 points, including half of her team’s production in the fourth, as the Pilots staved off the Purple Riders.

MARTINS FERRY — Lauren Flannery poured in 30 points and Riley Lollathin came up big in the fourth quarter Monday night and River pulled away for a 57-47 girls’ high school basketball triumph against Martins Ferry inside the Tolbert Gymnasium.

The Pilots (5-2) seemed to be in control after exploding to a 14-2 lead. But the Purple Riders (2-5) outscored them 39-31 from that point and trailed by only four heading into the final period.

Carsyn Reynolds (nine points) gave River a 47-41 lead with a layup off a steal to start the fourth. Madison Ging, who paced the Purple Riders with 22 points, hit two from the line at the other end making it a four-point game again.

From there, however, River produced a 6-0 run that stretched its lead to 10 — 53-43. Included in the burst were jumpers by Lollathin and Reynolds and two free throws from Flannery, who finished 9 of 10 from the stripe.

A Jaden Stalder (12 points) bucket trimmed Ferry’s deficit to eight, but River came back with a free throw by Reynolds. Ging dropped in a jumper with 35.3 ticks left, but Lollathin finished the game 3 of 4 from the line to seal things. She finished with 15 points.

“Lauren came up big again and Riley played a great game,” River head coach Rick Isaly said. “She knocked down some big shots.

“We had a tough time getting the ball to go through the basket and she stepped up and got some big ones for us.”

The Pilots’ press worked well early, resulting in the big cushion. Little by little, though, the Purple Riders got a handle on it. Too, their shot came alive, mostly thanks to Ging.

Her bucket early in the second capped a 10-0 run and trimmed Martins Ferry’s deficit to two — 19-17.

The Pilots responded with a 10-2 spurt of their own, keyed by Flannery’s five points.

From there, the two teams played cat and mouse, with River maintaining a slim lead. Ging’s jumper brought the Purple Riders to within one — 35-34 — early in the third. Flannery answered with a jumper and two free throws, to which Ging responded with a layup and a jumper. But that’s as close as Martins Ferry got.

“I think the girls are starting to respond to the idea of just pushing through,” Martins Ferry head coach Paul Matuska said. “We did a lot of things right and those are what got us back in the game.

“We grew up a little bit (Monday).”

In the fourth, the Pilots slowed the tempo down and limited Ging’s opportunities.

“In the second half, especially the fourth quarter, we went half-court man and kind of stopped them a little bit,” Isaly said. “I don’t think they had many field goals (two).”

Meanwhile, the Pilots hit a handful of key buckets and free throws to widen the margin in their favor.

“We did just enough,” Isaly said.