Earlier this month, the matchup between Riverdale and Princeton had all the makings of quite the showdown between two of the top teams in the 2A Mendota girls subsectional.

The Tigresses were off to a 14-0 start, the best in program history, and the Rams were well on their way to 20 wins.

Fast forward to Tuesday night at Prouty Gym, Riverdale caught Princeton without two major cogs, senior standout and captain Camryn Driscoll, out with a season-ending knee injury, and sophomore center Payton Brandt, who missed her second game in two nights with an illness.

One observer likened it to Princeton missing its engine without Driscoll.

Even still, the Tigresses played to a six-point game at halftime before Riverdale flexed its muscle, outscoring their hosts 27-12 in the second half to score a 54-33 victory in the Three Rivers crossover.

“We were down (two players). It drew a lot of attention to Keighley (Davis),” PHS coach Tiffany Gonigam said. “I think some of the things we would have liked to do offensively was more difficult with the way they played us defensively. I’m proud of the way the kids battled.”

Senior guard Madie Gibson hit a 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter to cut Riverdale’s lead to 18-13. Davis opened the second quarter with a steal and layup and added two throws to draw the Tigresses within 18-17.

Freshman Ava Munson hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key and Danika Burden sank one of her two free throws to make it a 27-21 game at the half.

“We’ve struggled to have good starts and tonight we had a good start. Really battled with them being down some personnel,” Gonigam said. “It’s a really good team. You can’t beat yourself up about it. It’s a team we could see in a couple weeks here again (in the postseason). Just got to keep getting better (during) practice. I think the kids are ready to do that.”

Princeton kept close to start the third quarter with Davis scoring on a putback and a drive plus a free throw and Burden adding a putback to maintain its 6-point deficit at 32-26.

Riverdale took off from there, ending the third quarter on a 10-0 run, capped by Jillian Murray’s 3-pointer on the run to beat the buzzer to put the Rams up 44-28.

Gonigam said the Tigresses will have to play with a next-player-up attitude the rest of the season with Driscoll out.

“That’s kind of the philosophy we had in our game last night with Rochelle (a 63-41 win). Contributions from other people helped us in that game and it was beautiful when that was able to happen. We’ve just got to do that on a consistent basis. We should get back Payton back soon, but we’re still looking to replace from a defense and offensive side both the loss of Camryn. That’s going to continue to be learning what their role is and how to contribute.”

Davis, who became Princeton’s all-time leading scorer on Saturday, is drawing much more attention now by opposing defenses. Even still, she had a game-high 20 points Tuesday.

“The thing is, she’s hard to stop,” Gonigam said. “She scored 20 points tonight. We had her for eight rebounds. So she does a lot of things still. So I think it’s a case where we get our other players where they feel comfortable. Take their open shots and just get involved.”

Murray led the Rams (22-3) with 19 points and Cayleigh Hungate added 14.

The Tigresses fell to 17-6, going 3-6 in last nine games since losing Driscoll.