Bogan falls to Milwaukee Riverside

Bogan came in with the better record, but it was Milwaukee Riverside that walked away the victors Sunday morning as they defeated the Bengals 73-57 in the MLK Dream Classic at Young.

Riverside got off to a quick start jumping out to an early 12-3 lead before Bogan could respond.

“We didn’t play physical enough,’’ Bogan’s Breyonna Craft said. “They hit us fast and we didn’t know how to respond. Were not used to that, with us being one of the better teams in the city.’’

Bogan didn’t have an answer to Riverside’s inside-out combination of 6-5 Breanna Lewis and freshman point guard Alona Johnson. The Kansas State-bound Lewis was able to alter shots with her long wingspan on defense and used her post moves to power Riverside’s offense. Lewis scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Riverside (10-4).

“I like to take advantage of my size and gain position down low,’’ Lewis said. “I know I have a height advantage over many of the girls but I just go out and play.’’

Every time Bogan (17-3) would try and get a run, the Tigers would respond. Trailing 21-11 after the first quarter, the Bengals went on a 7-1 run to cut the game to just a four point difference, 22-18, but it would get no closer.

Riverside extended its 35-24 halftime lead into a 58-40 third quarter advantage, a spread the Bengals could not recover from.

“Playing teams like this is good for us,’’ Craft said. “We’re most likely not going to see a girl that is that tall for the rest of the playoffs, but it’s good for us to have to learn how to go against someone bigger than us.’’

Brittany Byrd scored 23 points and Brandy Tarver and Chelsea Stone had 11 for Bogan.