Falcons cruise by Honkers

River Valley High senior Hayley Thompson sure knows how to finish.

Playing in her last varsity home game, Thompson capped her three-year varsity career by scoring a game-high 20 points to lead the Falcons to a 60-44 victory over Yuba City in a Tri-County Conference Tournament game on Tuesday night.

It was a big win for River Valley (9-15, 5-6), which avenged a 43-42 loss to the Honkers a week ago by beating Yuba City for the second time this season.

"I think the girls wanted some redemption," River Valley coach Tom Zaragoza said. "There's times when Hayley can take over games and then there's times when we forget about her. Tonight was one of those night's where she took over."

After taking a 14-13 lead following the first quarter, Thompson and the Falcons took control of the game by outscoring the Honkers 18-9 in the second period. Thompson scored 10 points in the pivotal second and when it was all said and done, River Valley had a comfortable 10-point cushion at the intermission.

While the Honkers never gave up in the second half, they never got closer than 10 points of the lead and River Valley coasted home with the victory.

Ramneet Basra added 17 points for the Falcons, while Kiran Samra scored 11 and Mariah Curry added 10 for the Honkers (4-19, 3-8).