OAKLAND, Iowa — If ever the Riverside boys deserved a curtain call, this was the night.

So after a brief trip to the locker room Friday, the Bulldogs hustled back into the Richard Harris Gymnasium, where their ecstatic fans were waiting to shower them with more love.

Riverside picked the perfect time to snap an 11-game losing streak to Treynor, riding the broad shoulders of 6-foot-7 junior Ricky Williams to a 64-51 win over the previously unbeaten Cardinals before a reporter-estimated 800 on Senior Night.

Williams finished with 27 points, 20 rebounds, five assists, four blocks and a steal in a first-team all-state performance.

The victory earned Riverside a share of its first Western Iowa Conference championship in 17 years. The Bulldogs, rated sixth in western Iowa (Class 2-A/1-A) by The World-Herald, improved to 17-2 overall and finished league play at 13-1.

“The seniors wanted it,’’ Williams said. “They really stepped up. We just wanted to win the conference title, for how long it’s been. And we did it tonight.’’

Western Iowa No. 1 Treynor, rated fourth in the state in Class 1-A, dropped to 18-1 and 13-1. The Cardinals had won the outright regular-season WIC title three straight years.

“It’s a big win for our kids,’’ Riverside coach Jason Shelangouski said. “But we kind of talked about it at half-court out there when they came back out. This is step one. We have a lot of different goals for the rest of the year, and one of them is getting to state, and we have to go through these guys again to do it.’’

Treynor struggled mightily with its shooting, making just 20 of 61 (32.8 percent) from the field, including 5 of 22 from 3-point range (22.7 percent). But the Cardinals wouldn’t go away, trailing 53-49 with 3:30 remaining in the game after Chris Zimmerman’s basket.

A reporter actually heard Riverside fans murmuring that this was the way it usually went against Treynor: Start well but fizzle at the end. Riverside led by two heading into the fourth quarter of the first meeting, but lost 51-45.

There was no fizzling from the home team on this night, primarily because the spectacular Williams wouldn’t let it. The 260-pounder rebounded his own miss, scored and completed a three-point play to put his team back up 56-49 with 2:50 left.

Brady Ryun hit Deven Moore for a layup, and Ryun followed with a steal, which led to his floating 5-footer that put the Bulldogs up 60-49 with 2:05 left. Treynor got no closer than nine down the stretch, and the Riverside fans stood and cheered virtually the entire final minute.

“We told them to thank the fans, because they came out and supported us tonight,’’ said Shelangouski, whose team hit 56.9 percent (29 of 51) from the field. “It was a big deal for them, and a big deal for the kids. That’s what this is all about.’’

Perhaps equally as important as the final three minutes was Riverside’s reaction to the end of the first half. The Bulldogs led 37-26 with a minute left before the intermission, but then Zimmerman, who was 1 for 8 to that point, made a 3-pointer followed by a 26-foot 3-pointer in a 20-second span.

After a Riverside turnover, Cole Chapin buried a 3 at the horn, completing a stunning nine-point, 35-second flurry that pulled the Cardinals within 37-35 at the half.

Shelangouski said initially it was an emotional locker room.

“It was pretty loud,’’ he said. “Then when we quieted down and we starting talking about some things, they fed off of that.’’

Williams calmed his team early in the third, scoring the first six points to push it back to eight. Meanwhile, Treynor missed 13 of its first 14 field-goal attempts in the third.

Treynor coach Scott Rucker said his team’s defense was more discouraging than its cold shooting.

“I thought we gave them too much in the paint,’’ he said. “They shot layups. You’re not going to win giving up 64.’’

Rucker said immediately after the game that there was no consolation in sharing the conference title.

“We don’t have any good feelings right now,’’ he said.

On a night when Shelangouski honored the team’s four seniors — Moore (12 points, eight rebounds), John Gunderson, Kody Stowell and Jesse McMillin — by starting them alongside Williams, Senior Night ended with the first win over Treynor in more than five years.

“It’s big for the seniors,’’ Shelangouski said.

Treynor (18-1, 13-1) ........... 17 18 5 11—51

Riverside (17-2, 13-1) ............ 19 18 10 17—64

T: Chris Zimmerman 6-20 3-4 17, Cole Chapin 4-17 0-0 11, Kyle Ticer 0-3 0-0 0, Connor Meis 5-8 2-5 12, Ryan Carley 1-5 0-0 2, Ryan Hempel 0-0 0-0 0, Trey Robinson 4-8 1-2 9. Totals: 20-61 6-11 51.

R: Deven Moore 6-9 0-0 12, John Gunderson 2-7 2-2 6, Kody Stowell 2-6 0-1 4, Ricky Williams 13-19 1-1 27, Jesse McMillin 0-1 0-0 0, Brady Ryun 4-6 1-2 9, Ean Patrick 2-3 2-2 6. Totals: 29-51 6-8 64.

3-point goals: T 5-22 (Chapin 3-11, Zimmerman 2-10, Ticer 0-1), R 0-1 (Gunderson 0-1). Total fouls: T 13, R 12. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none. Rebounds: T 25 (Zimmerman 7, Meis 7), R 40 (Williams 20). Assists: T 7 (Chapin 3), R 19 (Williams 5, Ryun 5). Steals: T 7 (Robinson 3), R 3 (Ryun, Williams, Gunderson). Turnovers: T 5, R 17.

Treynor girls 53, Riverside 28

Western Iowa No. 9 Treynor forced 20 first-half turnovers and 37 for the game, and was never threatened.

Tracy Purdy, a 5-foot-8 sophomore, led Treynor's defensive charge with nine steals. Kaitlin Killinger was the game's lone double-figure scorer with 11 points, hitting 5 of 8 from the field.

The Cardinals made their first six field-goal attempts.

Treynor (14-6, 10-4) .......... 20 8 13 12—53

Riverside (5-13, 2-12) ............ 5 7 3 13—28

T: Tracy Purdy 4-9 0-0 8, Chaley Rath 3-6 3-4 9, Alex Snyder 0-1 2-2 2, Kaitlin Killinger 5-8 0-0 11, Paige Volkens 1-2 0-2 2, Madison Keysor 1-3 1-2 4, Gracie Myers 2-3 0-0 4, Chelsea Cooper 1-1 0-0 2, Kayli Christensen 1-7 1-2 3, Mattie Jacobsen 0-3 0-0 0, Lexis Rogers 2-4 0-1 6, Emma Fiene 1-4 0-2 2. Totals: 21-51 7-15 53.

R: Rachel Faga 1-6 0-0 3, Anna Hildebrand 3-8 1-2 7, Dani Turner 1-1 0-0 2, Shayley Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Elisabeth Seifert 1-1 0-0 2, Sheyenne Smith 3-7 0-0 6, Bailey McCready 2-3 0-0 5, Rachel Novotny 0-4 3-4 3. Totals: 11-31 4-6 28.

3-point goals: T 4-12 (Rogers 2-2, Killinger 1-3, Keysor 1-3, Jacobsen 0-1, Purdy 0-3), R 2-10 (McCready 1-1, Faga 1-4, Novotny 0-2, Hildebrand 0-3). Total fouls: T 9, R 17. Fouled out: Faga. Technical fouls: none. Rebounds: T 21 (Purdy 3, Jacobsen 3), R 28 (She. Smith 8). Assists: T 12 (Keysor 3), R 5 (Hildebrand 2, Novotny 2). Steals: T 28 (Purdy 9), R 7 (Hildebrand 2). Turnovers: T 15, R 37.

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