Looking to finish, Richards calls on Iyanah Crosby to hold off Argo. ‘She gives everybody else confidence.’

Junior forward Iyanah Crosby does a whole lot of things for Richards both offensively and defensively.

She also knows how to hold court — on the court.

Just before the second half Tuesday night against visiting Argo, the 5-foot-10 Crosby gathered a few of her teammates for a little pep talk.

“We were talking strategy,” she said. “I was also telling them about how we were doing really well in the first half but not to get too excited. We had to finish out the next two quarters.”

Crosby had plenty of reasons to give them all high-fives after the Bulldogs finished off a 54-50 South Suburban Red victory in Oak Lawn.

Crosby led the way for Richards (11-14, 7-4) with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Julia Niemeyer added 10 points, five rebounds and seven blocked shots, while Deniza Fuentes contributed nine points and five rebounds.

Apple Guerrero had 28 points and 12 rebounds for Argo (10-11, 6-6). Jada Madgett added 12 points and six rebounds, while Briana Leon had eight points and seven rebounds.

Crosby’s words of wisdom came into play with 2:21 remaining in the third quarter when she committed her fourth foul. A double-digit lead had been sliced to three points, and she would sit several minutes.

During her absence, her teammates kept their cool. Niemeyer was clutch with a 3-point play and a 3-pointer. Argo never got closer than two. And when Crosby returned two minutes into the fourth quarter, she helped them close it out.

Crosby is averaging 13.9 points and 9.5 rebounds in her second season on the varsity.

She’s the third in her family to play basketball. Two older brothers, Albert and Trevon Jones, were two-sport athletes. Albert played football at Upper Iowa.

“When they were here, they were a big part of the sports scene,” Crosby said. “They were known and they were really good. It keeps me going and motivates me to be the same — and maybe be even better than them.”

She has been a stabilizing force on the court for Richards coach Jeff Kortz.

“Iyanah has assumed the role now where she’s going to talk and help us work our way through things,” Kortz said. “We handle pressure just a little bit better when she’s out there.

“She gives everybody else confidence when she’s on the floor. She works hard and every day she gets a little bit better at something. She wants to pick my brain about some things and says, ‘Yes, we can try this or try that.’ She helps immensely.”

Crosby did a lot of things well against Argo. One of them was finding open spaces to receive passes.

“I try to get the offense going,” Crosby said. “Sometimes we don’t move, including me. So I try to get myself open by moving around.”

Against Argo, it resulted in a handful of layups, especially during the first half when she scored 20 points.

“She is just really good at finding the spot,” Niemeyer said. “We set up a lot of our plays around our post players, and since she is one of our stronger players, we set up a lot of plays around her.”

Crosby finishes more often than not. And she’s not afraid to start, when it comes to fixing a difficult situation with some advice.

“Iyanah has grown so much as a player the last couple of seasons,” Niemeyer said. “She definitely lets you know what you need to do out there. She’s one of our leaders, scoring-wise and just vocally. Sometimes, she yells at me a little bit.”

That’s bold.

“She doesn’t like it at all when I yell at her,” Crosby said, laughing. “But she listens … sometimes.”