It’s tough to beat a team three times, but Riverton pulled it off with a 44-30 win over Rock Springs in the consolation semi-finals early Friday afternoon at the Ford Wyoming Center.
The win moves the Wolverines to a noon contest with Star Valley for the consolation trophy on Saturday.
Riverton opened the game against the Tigers moving the ball easily for point blank shots, point blank shots that they weren’t able to convert. The cold spell that plagued the Wolverines in their opener the night before against Sheridan continued throughout the first half on Friday.
The Wolverines led 4-0 when Rock Springs came to life on a 10-0 run.
Riverton was just two-of-12 from the floor in the first period, and an all too familiar 0-4 from the 3-point line.
Rock Springs led 10-6 at the first break, but Riverton tied the game at 15 on a Kade Gabrielson 3-pointer with 2:32 remaining in the opening half.
A trey by Ethan Wiley with 53 seconds to go in the second period gave the Tigers an 18-15 advantage at the half.
That narrow lead vanished in the third period. Lucas Engle scored on a post move and following free throw to tie the game at 18. Riverton rolled into the lead via a 14-0 run in the third, while holding the Tigers scoreless the entire period.
“You have to hold them scoreless when you can’t hit,” Riverton head coach Beau Sheets said.
Rock Springs was ineffective at getting open shots, and Riverton’s defense forced the Tigers to work the ball over a minute on three different possessions, with two ending in turnovers and the other a bad shot.
“He didn’t want it to be his last game,” Sheets said of Engle’s efforts. “He did a good job for us, he really stepped up.”
A Jason Vincent 3-pointer, and a pair of treys by Engle lifted Riverton to a decisive 29-18 lead. Vincent’s baseline trey ripped the net after the buzzer sounded.
Tanner Johnson took control in the final period, including a coast-to-coast drive for an easy layup. Parker Paxton set the full court layup tone of the final minutes with his own coast-to-coast drive just before Johnson.
Engle led Riverton with 15, and Johnson tallied 11.
Riverton 6 9 14 15 – 44
Rock Springs 10 8 0 12 – 30
Riverton – Jason Vincent (1) 0-0 3, Darrick DeVries 1 0-0 2, Derick Lange 1 0-0 2 , Ty Sheets 0-2, Ace Sage 0-1, Parker Paxton 1 3-4 5, Kade Gabrielson (1) 2-3 5 Tanner Johnson 4 (1) 0-3 11, Hunter Hauck 1-2 1, Dre’vin Monroe 1 0-0 2, Lucas Engle 2 (2) 3-5 15. Totals 10 (5) 9-20 44
Rock Springs – Owen Patterson 2-2 2, Dalton Thomas 1 0-0 2, Michael Faigl (2) 0-0 6, Kael Anderson 1 0-0 2, Brock Bider 1 1-1 3, Je’von Newman 1-2 1, Ethan Willey (1) 0-3 3, Trenten Butcher 1 1-1 3, Isaac Schoenfeld 4 0-0 8. Totals 8 (3) 5-9 30