Riverton opening eyes of 5A coaches, teams

They're undefeated, they feature the fourth-leading scorer in 5A, and they're outscoring opponents by an average of 21 points. Most surprisingly, it's not the team you'd expect.

It's not Bingham, Alta or even Lone Peak. In fact, this 5A juggernaut wasn't even voted into the top five in the preseason coaches poll.

As it turns out, the best team in 5A heading into the new year is the Riverton Silverwolves.

"I love the attitude of this team," said Riverton coach Steve Galley, whose team is off to an impressive 8-0 start. "When you're unselfish, everything is better. They're really focused on getting better every day."

It doesn't hurt either that the 'Wolves are loaded with talent.

Junior 6-foot-7 forward Morgan Grim leads the team in scoring with a 17.1 average, and he's also the leading rebounder.

"He's so long, he really plays like he's 6'10, and he's extremely coachable," said Galley. "He just keeps becoming more and more skilled. He scores, he changes shots, and one of the areas he's improved the most is his passing ability."

Grim has received several Division I scholarships, but is still undecided.

Even though Grim garners much of the attention, Galley believes that the "catalyst" of the team is point guard Eric Dearden. Not only is he a great distributor, but he's an outstanding defender who plays full-court pressure defense.

Mike Larsen is Riverton's second-leading scorer with 13.1 ppg, and the 6-foot-8 forward is also one of the top 3-point shooters in 5A, averaging over two per game.

By no means, however, is Riverton a three-man team.

"There's so much more to our team than Mike, Eric and Morgan," said Galley. "We play up to 10 guys in varsity games, and at different times, they're all significant."

For some reason, however, all that talent didn't translate into preseason respect.

With Region 3 play getting underway in the coming weeks, Riverton was projected by the coaches to finish third behind Bingham and West Jordan. In reality, it may still happen because coaches know that preseason success doesn't necessarily translate into region success.

Bingham (5-2) may ultimately win the league, as coach Mark Dubach's team features perhaps the best guard line in the state with Brett Sommerville and Sloan Baker. If the Miners' big men continue getting better, they should be right there with Riverton at the end of February.

West Jordan (4-4) may not have the individual talent to win the region, but most coaches agree that coach Scott Briggs is the best coach in the state, and his teams are always tough to beat.

In Region 1, Davis appears to be the runaway favorite. Not only were the Darts picked No. 1 in the coaches preseason region poll, but they've backed it up with a 7-1 preseason record.