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Riverdale girls basketball garners USA TODAY national title

Tom Kreager, USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
Riverdale's Brinae Alexander (32) holds the championship trophy with her teammate Aislynn Hayes (11) behind her as the team celebrates its victory over Memphis Central in the Class AAA State Tournament on Saturday, March 11, 2017.

A season of perfection was capped with more national recognition on Tuesday.

Riverdale’s girls basketball team was named national champion by USA TODAY. It comes a month after the Lady Warriors won the program’s sixth Class AAA state championship and fifth since 2010.

“It’s just a testament for the hard work of our kids and the support of our school and principal,” Riverdale coach Randy Coffman said of the national title, which came a day after MaxPreps declared the Murfreesboro program its national champion. “You put sports-minded people in leadership roles, they understand the life lessons that comes through sports. They understand the importance of those things.”

“All great schools are represented by solid athletic programs.”

Riverdale finished the season 34-0 for its second undefeated season since 2013. That was also the last time the Lady Warriors were declared national champions.

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Riverdale beat Memphis Central 66-59 on March 11 for its second straight state title. The title continued a streak of dominance by Rutherford County schools in the state’s largest classification. Rutherford schools have won the past six Class AAA state championships.

Blackman won state titles in 2014 and 2015 while Riverdale has won the other four titles.

Blackman earned its own national championship in 2014.

Coffman said the program’s 2017-18 schedule is “95 percent” completed. He described it as a national schedule that includes some one-day events within two or three hours.

The program also plans on going to Phoenix in December for the Nike Tournament of Champions. Riverdale was scheduled to play in the tournament a year ago, but the Lady Warriors were unable to participate after their flights were canceled because of bad weather.

“We want to do what we tried to do last year,” Coffman said. “That’s all in our plans.

“That’s why last year was so special to me. It wasn’t a cherry-picked schedule. We put them in the toughest situations that we could.”

Reach Tom Kreager at tkreager@tennessean.com or 615-259-8089 and on Twitter @Kreager.