HANNIBAL — A near-unstoppable first half effort from River High’s Peyton Blue steered the Pilots to a strong start Friday night at the R.L. Potts gym against Shadyside in a Division VII sectional co-final.

The 6-2 senior forward scored 19 prior to intermission while coach Mark Romick’s crew took advantage of icy Tiger shooting to earn a 41-28 win to advance to Wednesday’s District Finals opposite 16-6 Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans, the two-seed.

“(Peyton) was lights out in the first half, but he’s capable of that,” Romick remarked, as Blue had a game-high 21 points.

Neither club could pry the lid off the hoop as the hosts hit 35 percent (14-40) to Shadyside’s 20 percent (8-40).

“We couldn’t make shots,” understated Tiger boss Ed Andes of his young team, who finished 3-20 against a schedule filled with bigger schools.

Shadyside’s Ryan Collins opened the scoring on a layup, before Blue muscled his way for two hoops in the paint and added a “3” after a steal to push the Pilots ahead for good.

Blue continued his hot touch with a pair of ‘treys’ and a low block hoop for a 15-5 first quarter lead.

Frosh Crestyn Isaly opened the second with a Pilot ‘3’ and it was 20-10 after Blue’s strong move underneath at 4:24. Tiger sophomore Wyatt Parr canned two fouls, but again, Blue drew contact at the buzzer and swished both free throws for a 24-15 lead.

Shadyside’s Ean Weatherson and Collins opened the third quarter with back-to-back ‘treys’ to pull the visitors to 24-21 as the Pilots were shooting one-of-11.

“We get those two ‘3’s to start the second half, but that was it,” Andes said, as River was only two-of-11 in a third quarter not fit for any instructional highlight reel.

Romick pointed out, “we were impatient to start the second half, but (Evan) Longwell gave a lift with that ‘3’,” at 2:22. It was 28-21 entering the fourth.”

Isaly drilled back-to-back bonus bombs to open the fourth, Trail Thompson scored near the glass, and a Longwell “3” made it 39-21 on an assist from Blue.

Hendershot, who led Shadyside with 11, cut it to 39-26 at 2:34, but River, now 8-15, went into a delay and wrapped it up on two Blue freebies.