Girls Basketball State Semifinals

All games at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.  Admission is $15 on the day of the event. Parking is $10.

Class 5A

River Ridge (25-5) vs. Daytona Beach Mainland (17-12), 3 p.m., Wednesday

How they got here: River Ridge d. Belleview 60-32, d. Lecanto 57-26, d. Leesburg 61-46. Mainland d. Choctawhatchee 70-31, d. Tallahassee Rickards 52-42, d. Pensacola Booker T. Washington 56-53.

Stat Leaders

Category	River Ridge	Mainland
Points per game	Lauren Lee, 12.3	Anovia Sheals, 18.9
Rebounds per game	Lauren Lee, 7.0	Anovia Sheals, 11.5
Assists per game	JP Ferguson, 3.3	Tia Dobsn, 2.6
Steals per game	JP Ferguson, 3.4	Tia Dobson, 0.8
Blocks per game	Lauren Lee, 1.7	Olivia Olson, 0.2

Outlook

The Royal Knights are in the state semifinals for the first time. Now comes the hard part — a matchup with defending state champion Daytona Beach Mainland. Still, despite facing a team with more playoff pedigree, River Ridge knows it can compete. The Royal Knights enter on a seven-game win streak, all by double digits. Their success is due in large part to a defense that has held opponents to an average of 32.4 points per game. The key will be how quickly River Ridge can adapt to playing in a bigger arena in its first final four trip. After all, the vastness of Lakeland’s RP Funding Center, site of the tournament, can create problems with depth perception on long-range shots. After winning it all last season, Mainland put together a brutally tough schedule to prepare for its title defense. They struggled early on, starting 6-10. Then Mainland turned things around, winning 11 of its last 13 games.