Riverton girls pull off big upset win over Bingham

RIVERTON — Amanda Hansen had a great warm-up and was feeling very confident as her Riverton team squared off against its biggest region rival, second-ranked Bingham, Thursday night.

As it turned out, one of her biggest contributions was cheering for her teammates from the bench.

"It was so hard," said Hansen, who spent more than half the game on the bench with foul trouble in the team's 42-39 upset of Bingham. "I wanted to be in the game so bad; I was shaking. It's the hardest thing to be on the bench, but I know my teammates are still going to score because we have such a good team."

Hansen then reached over and hugged senior guard Sarah Blad, one of the non-starters whose efforts helped the Silverwolves hand Bingham its second loss this season. Blad, who finished with 10 points and three steals, led a defensive effort that stifled the Miners' inside game.

With Hansen and point guard Dayna Burgess out with two fouls each part of the first quarter and all of the second, Blad took over. She earned two steals and seven of her 10 points in the second quarter to give her team a 20-19 halftime lead.

It was not what Riverton coach Ron Ence expected with his three best players on the bench. (Center Kim Gamblin was out with an injury but will return next week.)

"I was just hoping to weather the storm," Ence said. "But the planets must be aligned somewhere. When you win and one of your leading scorers doesn't score a point, you just thank your lucky stars."

He was emotional and proud of how well his seniors played when asked to carry the team against the Miners.

"What a great win for these seniors," he said. "That was the best defense we've played in weeks. I think the energy of this rivalry helped us. . . . I'm a little emotional because that's the program we want to be like. They're right down the street and they win every single year. Rand (Rasmussen) has his team ready to play every night, and if you don't match fire with fire, you're going to come out on the losing end."

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.