Even though the admission was free, fans got their money’s worth Saturday afternoon at Wolverine gym. The Wolverines played an extra four minutes against Kelly Walsh, with the score at the end of regulation identical to the girl’s game just two hours before that also ended in overtime. This time, Big Red, came out on top with a thrilling 55-49 win that featured some of the most atrocious fan behavior witnessed this season from the Casper crowd.
Friday, the Wolverines fell for the first time in two years in conference play to Rock Springs 54-45.
The game featured two distinct styles of play with the much taller Trojans settling for long-range shots, and not challenging inside, and the quicker, shorter Wolverines going hard at the basket from the opening tip.
The result was a lot of hard fouls on Kelly Walsh, with relaxed perimeter defense by the Wolverines.
In the early going the Trojans shoved underneath, cut players’ legs out on drives, and hand checked in the forecourt. The fouls climbed precipitously as the rough style of play continued.
Nathan Hutchison and Darrick DeVries went inside and were hammered on a couple of shots, and jostled on most of the others.
A scary moment came when guard Parker Paxton flew inside from the left and hit the floor on his back. There was no call by the officials on the play, but there was no contact either as the Kelly Walsh defender turned to avoid the collision.
Riverton built a quick 13-2 lead on 3-point baskets by DeVries, Kade Gabrielsen, and Ty Sheets.
Just as quickly as the margin expanded, it began to contract and by the half, Kelly Walsh trailed by just a single point at 26-25.
Riverton maintained the lead throughout the third, and though Jason Vincent didn’t score his defense, hustle, and rebounding were key factors in the win.
Vincent’s tight man-to-man defense on Jack Nicholls most likely had the 6-0 sophomore guard checking under his bed later that night to ensure Vincent wasn’t still guarding him.
Kelly Walsh never led in the second half but a short jump shot by 6-1 sophomore Jace Nicholls knotted the game at 41 with 2:19 left in regulation.
Riverton went cold in the final period tallying just three points on a trey by DeVries.
That all changed with the second tip of the game.
After a slow start, Hutchison stole a pass and scored on a coast-to-coast drive with 2:17 remaining for the first score. DeVries and Paxton combined on four straight free throws for a 47-41 lead and then Casper senior Jayden Nicholls was nailed for a technical foul after directing profanity toward an official after his fifth foul, he finished the game with just two points.
Riverton built a double-digit lead at 51-41 on a 10-0. The Wolverines hit 10-of-12 free throws in the overtime period after Kelly Walsh began to foul deliberately to stop Riverton’s delay game.
It was a balanced scoring effort for Riverton with Hutchison leading the way at 15 points. DeVries had 14, and Paxton and Gabrielsen both scored 11.
Riverton has one conference game remaining this weekend against Cody in Park County.
Riverton 13 13 12 3 14 – 55
Kelly Walsh 6 19 10 6 8 – 49
Riverton – Jason Vincent 0-1, Darrick DeVries 1 (3) 3-4 14, Ty Sheets 1 (1)1-2 6, Kade Gabrielsen 2 (1) 4-5 11, Parker Paxton (1) 8-10 11, Nathan Hutchison 6 3-3 15. Totals 10 (6) 19-25 55
Kelly Walsh – Nicholls 5 (1) 0-0 13, Eager 4 (2) 1-1 15, Nicholls 1 0-0 2, Pepple 1 0-0 2, Nicholls 3 0-0 6, Degel 1 0-0 2, Mamot (3) 0-0 9. Totals 15 (6) 1-1 49