Ence said Blad and senior forward Shanna "Sunshine" Neilson have played in the shadows of Burgess and Hansen, but their performance in Thursday's game leaves no doubt they are top-notch players themselves. Senior guard Brittany Tattersall and Shannon Hildreth, a junior guard, were also key in holding Bingham's offense to just 39 points.

Neilson, who led the team with 13 points, grabbed a rebound and scored to make it 36-31 with about two minutes left. Hildreth then went 4-for-4 from the foul line, allowing the Silverwolves to fend off the Miners.

With 47 seconds remaining, Bingham's Stephanie Sampson, who had a game-high 18 points, rebounded a missed Riverton free throw and hit a 3-pointer to bring Bingham within a point with 30 seconds to go.

Hansen, who finished with 10 points, was fouled immediately and hit both free throws to give Riverton a three-point lead. Bingham had three attempts at a 3-point shot. The final attempt went into the basket and popped out, setting off a huge Riverton celebration.

Rand Rasmussen was proud of his team's defense, but felt they turned the ball over too many times. His young team was visibly upset after the loss, but the veteran coach reminded them that he'd won two of his three state titles with late-season losses.

"We've won 36 out of our last 42 games," he said he told them. "We must be pretty good; we must be somebody because it looked like the Super Bowl after we lost . . . That put a sparkle back in their eyes."

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