DeGRAFF — Lehman Catholic went through the first half of Three Rivers Conference play without a victory and didn’t win many nonconference games either.

But the Cavaliers are showing improvement as regular season winds down, and coach Chad Platfoot is hopeful they can make a postseason run.

After losing a lead in the fourth quarter, Lehman battled back to beat Riverside 38-36 in a TRC game on Thursday at Kenny Truster Gymnasium.

It’s the fourth win in the last six games for Lehman (6-11, 2-9 TRC), which lost 27-26 at Lima Perry on Tuesday.

The Cavaliers beat Bethel 42-21 on Saturday for their first TRC win; they had lost 38-33 to the Bees on Dec. 9. They followed that loss with a 38-27 defeat to Riverside several days later.

“It’s always nice to (beat a team) you lost to in the first round,” Platfoot said. “Hopefully we can keep building on that before the tournament draw next week.

“… We’re starting score a little bit more. It makes the game easier. We have a lot of girls come from volleyball and soccer, and they don’t play basketball a lot. It usually takes about half a season. We have a chance to make a nice little run in tournament, but we have to score the ball and take care of pressure.”

Lehman Catholic senior center Mara O’Leary averages a team-high 11.8 points and 9.1 rebounds; her rebounding total is the second highest among TRC players.

But O’Leary (5-foot-11) and Riverside senior post Emma Saylor (6-0) largely contained each other, and other players stepped up scoring.

For Lehman, that was senior guard Taylor Geise and junior guard Kailee Rank. Geise led the Cavaliers with 13 points while Rank scored 11.

All of Geise’s points came in the first three quarters; Rank led a rally in the fourth quarter.

Geise and Layla Platfoot hit 3-pointers to help the Cavaliers amass a 22-10 lead in the second quarter, but the Pirates scored the last nine points to pull within three at halftime.

Riverside’s rally continued in the third quarter. Junior guard Avery Park scored four points to help lead an 11-7 scoring edge, which gave the Pirates a 30-29 lead. Riverside took the lead in the last 30 seconds on a put-back by Zoie Armbruster.

But Lehman retook the lead in the fourth.

Rank made a basket on a drive from the right side to give Lehman a 33-32 advantage early in the fourth, and over the next several minutes, she made 3-of-4 foul shots.

Rank has scored in double figures five times in the last 10 games after averaging 3.2 points per game in the first seven games.

“She has come along really well,” Platfoot said. “We’ve had conversations earlier in the season where it’s like, ‘Hey, we need you.’ The last half of the year, she is averaging about 10 or 11 points. She is starting to attack. Perfect time, right before tournament. That’s a building block for us.”

Rank’s last free throws gave Lehman a 36-34 lead with about a minute left. But Perk made a mid-range jumper with 44 seconds left to tie it 36-36.

The Pirates were forced to foul, and Melanie Karn split a pair of free throws for Lehman to give the team a one-point lead.

Riverside got it down to its side, and after a timeout, Perk got a shot off after a near-turnover. But her jumper hit off the back of the rim and went to Platfoot, who was fouled and split a pair of free throws with 0.1 left.

The Pirates used a full-court press through much of the second half, which caused many Lehman turnovers; the squad finished with 23 on the night.

The Cavaliers were able to limit the turnovers some by having O’Leary, a four-year varsity player, take the ball down court.

“Mara is a great player and handles so much for us,” Platfoot said. “… We ask so much from here. ‘Hey, you’ve got to be a point guard, you’ve got to be a post player.’ She handles it well, though.

“… With her size and athletic ability, it’s always nice to put her down here and say to throw it up to her. After that, we kind of have an issue still breaking the press. But she does a great job handling.”

While Riverside got extra possessions with its turnovers, it struggled to shoot; the squad finished 14 for 52 (27 percent) from the floor, including 8 for 28 in the second half.

Lehman, which shot 12 for 35 (34 percent) from the floor, was able to hold Riverside to one-shot possessions for most of the second half, especially late in the fourth.

“We talked during timeouts that they don’t have great shooters, and we have to get defensive rebounds and not (give them second chances),” Platfoot said. “We have a tendency to get a rebound and hold it. We talked about grabbing a rebound, go and push the ball.”

Perk led Riverside (6-11, 4-7) with 15 points. Saylor, who leads Riverside with an average of 9.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, finished with two.

Lehman is scheduled to host Newton on Tuesday. The Pirates are scheduled to host Hardin-Northern on Saturday.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.