In the concrete hallway leading to the Riverland athletic locker rooms, smeared spots of blood could be found on the floor well after the Riverland women fell to Bethany Lutheran, 79-74.

Thursday, January 06, 2000

In the concrete hallway leading to the Riverland athletic locker rooms, smeared spots of blood could be found on the floor well after the Riverland women fell to Bethany Lutheran, 79-74.

The blood belonged to Blue Devil Rachael Burzinski, who’d taken a elbow to nose and missed a good 10 minutes of the second half.

The blood, though, stood as a strong symbol of the Blue Devils as a whole.

After years of humiliating losses at the hands of Bethany (7-4), Riverland (8-4) proved with its own blood, sweat and tears on Wednesday that they are pushovers no longer.

"I thought it was awesome," Riverland coach Suzy Hebrink said.

Here’s why: Before the days leading to the game, Hebrink watched film of last season’s two losses to Bethany. The combined score of those defeats was 216-92.

In practice the day before the game, Hebrink had to chew on her players because they believed there was no way they could win.

Renea Bebler, a part of those losses a season ago, was so overcome by the close game, she rushed off the court after her fourth and final three-pointer sealed the final score at the buzzer. She needed to be alone.

"It was just really nice to play so close to them," Bebler said.

If ever there was a moral victory, this was it.

Burzinski and Bebler combined for 43 points to lead the way. Ten minutes into the game, Riverland led 21-13.

And though the Vikings found their superior inside game that was the difference, Riverland never hung its head.

Instead, the Blue Devils hung with the Vikings.

Down as much as 68-48 in the second half, Riverland refused to quit. Forever coming. Even when point guard Kelly Jo Leif – the team’s top three-point threat – was lost for the second half after being kicked. Even when center Anna Keefe lost precious minutes to a nagging knee that’s still recovering from preseason surgery. Even when Burzinski sat and waited for the blood to stop running.

Through all this, the Blue Devils persevered to prove they belong in the Minnesota Community College Conference, a league in which Riverland went winless last year.

When it comes to judging how far this Blue Devil team has come, nobody said it better than Burzinski, the team’s five steal, nine rebound Tazmanian Devil:

"We’ll get ’em next time," she said.

Bethany Lutheran (79)

Jesse Miller 16, Tiffany Hatlevig 2, Kristin Radtke 15, Jessica Krumwiede 12, Tracy Mulder 15, Krista Merseth 2, Jenny Otto 11, Natalie Bartsch 6. Free throws: 13-of-17; Three pointers: 6.

Riverland (74)

Rachael Burzinski 21, Kelly Jo Leif 3, Anna Keefe 12, Melissa Rosel 7, Renea Bebler 22, Alissa Goetzinger 2, Breanna Seira 7. Free throws: 11-of-14; Three pointers: 5 (Bebler four, Burzinski).