Throughout a challenging schedule early in the season, Riverside coach Brian Fulton has continuously reminded his team that the tough experiences would pay off down the road. Those dividends started to be paid off on Dec. 18, when the Beavers upended visiting Mentor, 51-47, in Riverside’s Community Fieldhouse. Coming into the game with a 3-4 record, Fulton said early tests against Brush, Cornerstone Christian and Cleveland Heights didn’t work out for his squad. The Beavers lost all of those games. But each game came with a benefit. That was evident in the four-point win over the 5-2 Mentor Cardinals. “That was part of the message in the locker room,” Fulton said afterward. “If we don’t play the schedule we play — the Brushes, the Cornerstones, who have a great team, Cleveland Heights — I’m not sure we win this game here. … The progress we’ve made has been tremendous.” After Riverside ran out to an early 10-0 lead, prompting a timeout from Mentor coach James Hrusovsky, the Cardinals got their footing and pulled out to a 22-14 lead late in the second quarter on a free throw by freshman Keira Coleman. In games past, that would have been the end of things for the young Beavers. But this time, Riverside got back to work, ending the half on a 7-0 run to cut the gap to 22-21 at the half. “That was the halftime message — we’re right back in this,” Fulton said. “These girls are basketball players. They understand we’ve been down before. We’ve come back before. We’re never out of a game. We’ve got players. We’ve got shooters. Stick to the game plan, play good defense and things will work out.” Riverside took the lead for good with 1:08 remaining in the third quarter when Madison Owens hit a pair of free throws. When Emma Wilhelm put back a missed shot at the buzzer, Riverside had a 37-22 lead. “I think one of my assistants told me they had 18 offensive rebounds,” Hrusovsky said. “It felt like they scored on almost all of them.” Riverside had the lead stretched out to 10 at 45-35 on a pair of transition baskets by Rhys Shantery. She scored eight points in the fourth period alone. “That’s what I like the most,” the junior guard said of transition opportunities. Mentor whittled the score to five points at 49-44 on a bucket by Sophia Stouffer with 1:01 remaining, but Riverside’s defense clamped down and got two key stops. After Jordyn White secured a rebound, Aubrey Laurenty hit two free throws to open a 51-44 lead. A late 3 by Mentor was too little too late. “I think a big thing is we weren’t able to score,” Hruskovsky said, which meant his team couldn’t set up its vaunted full-court press often enough. “When you’re not scoring consistently, it’s hard to keep that pressure up.” Stouffer and Nina Rodriguez each had 13 to lead Mentor, which hosts Shaker Heights on Dec. 20. Wilhelm led Riverside with 13, followed by Kelly Mapes’ nine and eight each from Shantery and Laurenty. “This was a huge win for us,” sophomore Wilhelm said. “(Mentor) is close to home. We really wanted to win this game. We lost last year in a close game. We really wanted to win. We needed a confidence-booster.” Riverside, now 4-4, will play Geneva this weekend. Fulton likes the trajectory his team is on. “We’re a young team, but we’re growing quickly,” he said. “The team GPA is 3.9. We’ve got a smart group of girls coming up. They’re athletic, they’re ballers and they’re smart. You put those three things together and the future is looking bright. I think (that future) pretty much started tonight.”