Riverton and Bingham square off again tonight

The Riverton Silver Wolves square off against the Bingham Miners for the second time this season tonight.

On Jan. 26 the two teams played for the first time since last year's state basketball championship. Bingham won the rematch convincingly.

Riverton coach Steve Galley called the loss to the Miners embarrassing, saying that his team failed to show up.

Galley gave high praise of the Miners basketball team calling them "the most talented team from top to bottom in the state."

Yet despite the drubbing they received at the hands of Mark Dubach's Miners, they don't plan on making too many adjustments for Friday's game at Bingham High School.

In the first game this year, Bingham's solid defense shut down Morgan Grimm, the state's leading scorer who is averaging 21 points a game. But Galley said he figures to be a key part of tonight's game.

"We don't change much of what we do throughout the year," Galley said. "We have to try and run everything through (Grimm) and around him."

However, Galley added, "I don't know if we have a clear-cut leader. When we're successful, everyone is playing well."

Galley knows that there will likely be a two- or three-man rotation guarding Grimm, but due to a lack of depth at the low post, Grimm will play the majority of the game. That's because when Grimm plays well, the Silver Wolves play well.

From the perspective of coach Dubach, the Miners won't be doing anything in particular to stop Riverton's big man.

Dubach said his team doesn't have one particular player that they are relying on to lead them to victory against Riverton and haven't relied on any one player all season long.

"We have seven different kids scoring in double figures this year," Dubach said. "We've really spread the ball around."

With only two games left before the state tournament begins later this month and with Bingham leading the Region 3 standings at 8-0, Dubach says they aren't looking past any games.

After winning the state championship last year, Dubach says he has maintained the same winning tradition by running this year one game at a time.

"This is a whole new team with whole new players," said Dubach.

Despite the new mix of players, Bingham has very effectively managed to steamroll through every region opponent this year, leading up to this week's game against Riverton.

Galley believes that his team's experience in the state championship last year has provided plenty of motivation for this year. Galley hopes that his team can draw on that experience as they battle Bingham again.

On paper, both teams are evenly matched, with each averaging over 60 points per game (Riverton 62.1 and Bingham 61.5) and each giving up just over 50 points a game.