From Deseret News archives:
High school boys basketball: Riverton overcomes its rebounding woes
Don't be mistaken, it's not really a formula for success, but on Friday night at the Jordan Invitational, it worked.
Riverton countered its brutal rebounding on the defensive glass by shooting 64 percent at the other end of the court to knock off Lehi 63-46 in convincing fashion.
"The margin of victory is a little fool's gold because they weren't able to finish their shots, but sometimes that's 'cause we're pretty long inside," said Riverton coach Steve Galley. "We won't get away with that in January or February, so we've got to get better there."
On Friday night, though, it was good enough. Riverton will face Granger today at 5 p.m. in the championship game of the Jordan Invitational. Lehi battles Jordan at 3:15 in the consolation game. Had Lehi finished more of its second-chance opportunities, the match-ups might've been reversed this afternoon.
Despite dominating the offensive glass and getting offensive rebounds on 19 of its initial 31 missed shots, the Pioneers were awful from the field, only connecting on 16-of-55 field goals for 29 percent.
Riverton, meanwhile, had a fantastic shooting night, making 24-of-37 shots — many of them coming in the paint from Ryan Thomas and Jeff Tanner, who finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
"I thought we were deeper than them, that was a big factor, we were able to run more posts at their posts," said Galley.
The victory helps upstart Riverton improve to 7-0 on the season, one of two remaining undefeated teams in 5A along with Skyline. Shooting guard Sean Nielson led the way for the Silverwolves with 14 points on two 3-pointers.
Lehi kept it close throughout most of the first half, only trailing 21-19 midway through the second quarter, but that's when things began to unravel for the Pioneers. Riverton closed the half on an 8-1 run to take a 29-20 lead into halftime. It quickly upped the lead to double-digits in the third quarter and coasted from there despite its penchant for giving up offensive rebounds.
Riverton enjoyed its biggest lead at 60-37 late in the game before Lehi finally started to knock down a few shots late in the game to make it a little more respectable.
Galley continues to be pleased with the balance his team is displaying, especially when top player Scott Friel only scores eight points in a victory.
"We're definitely able to win cause we're getting other guys to step up," said Galley. "Scott doesn't have to go score 20 points and he realizes that. We feel every guard we put on the court, they may not go for 20, but they can hit open shots."
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com
