Lady Rebels’ 3-0 in conference play;
beat Thermopolis, Rocky Mountain
By Marlys Good
The Lady Rebels kept their conference record spotless with duel wins over Thermopolis, 43-31, and Rocky Mountain, 50-33, last weekend. The victories left Riverside in sole possession of first place in the conference standings going into the final four weeks of the regular season.
“We played hard on both ends of the court, had great looks, and moved the ball well; we just didn’t shoot as well as we would have liked,” said Coach Cory Sova of the win over the Lady Bobcats. “We played so hard and so well together — that was the difference.
“We had a horrible first half,” Sova said with a grimace. “We shot just 5-25 from the field — and had more turnovers than points. Thermopolis had “shooting problems” also, and Sova said, “We were fortunate that they were cold at the same time we were. The girls started relaxing in the second (half) and we shot better.”
Wacey Triplett and Jamie Hovey registered double-doubles with Triplett scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to go with two assists and two steals and Hovey had 11 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Getzfreid led the team with 13 points. “Amber struggled in the first half but did a great job in the second. She had no turnovers and took a big charge,” Sova said.
Ashley Vigil, who had seven rebounds, found herself in foul trouble in the early going and Chelsea Longshore stepped in to score two points, grab four rebounds, three steals and dish off two assists, while committing just one turnover.
Sova gave Thermopolis a lot of credit. ”They run the court as well as anybody we’ve played and it could be a different story when we play them down there,” he said.
Riverside took the court with a vengeance Saturday and raced to a 17-9 lead in the first quarter against Rocky. “We got it going pretty good,” Coach Sova said. “We shot well early. We scored eight points in the last 1:30 of the quarter and blew the game open.” The second quarter was played at a slower pace with Rocky Mountain lulling Riverside into the pace the Lady Grizzlies wanted to play. “We didn’t score for a while, there was too much standing around on offense; I wasn’t pleased with that — it doesn’t work.”
A half time pep talk seemed to do the trick. “We talked about really making things happen in the third quarter and the girls responded. Midway through he third, we were up 20 points in a hurry.”
Getzfreid, Nicole Vavra and Triplett scored 34 of Riverside’s points (13, 11, 10 respectively). Sova pointed out that Vavra scored eight of her points in the third quarter. “She had a good solid game — and just one turnover. Triplett shot the ball really well, and Getzfreid, with her 13 points, four assists and three steals, had a good all-around game.
In his list of credits, Sova pointed out that Vigil, who plays “the top of our sting press, did a great job hounding the ball, and along with that she didn’t have a turnover. Freshman Michelle Hovey also gave us some nice minutes in this game.”
Rocky could be dangerous, Sova predicted. “They have some veteran guards who are pretty athletic, and two young post players who do a lot of nice things — move really well. If they get some guard play and build around the two big girls they could be up and coming.
“I think the differences were we shot the ball decently, Rocky had more turnovers and we overcame foul trouble a bit. The kids coming off the bench are doing nice things for us,” he said.
Riverside doesn’t have long to savor the two wins as they host Big Horn in games at 2:30 and 4 p.m. Friday. “Big Horn has a very good basketball team but have struggled this year - despite their good record; injuries play a part of that. We have a lot of respect for their athleticism, their basketball skills and their coaching. They’ll definitely want to come in and lay one on us,” Sova warned.
The Lady Blue from Shoshoni will be in Basin for games at 1 and 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Although currently the cellar-dwellers, Shoshoni can’t be taken lightly. “They have a mix of returning kids and young kids and are very inconsistent, but they have moments, and games, when they have looked really good — they’ve put up over 60 points a number of times. We are going to have to play good defense and continue to progress on offense; start cutting out unacceptable turnovers.”
With the season winding down, Sova said he wishes his team “was a little more consistent right now. I knew we would have good spells — get five-six minutes right in a row of good basketball. They have some dry spells — then erupt.  But the girls are playing with such high energy and playing so well together, that is why they are so dangerous.”
Riverside 43, Thermopolis 31
Riverside          8    7  14   14 — 43
Thermopolis   4    8  12     7 — 31
RIVERSIDE: Getzfreid 13, J. Hovey 11,  Triplett, 10, Vavra 7, Chelsea Longshore 2. FG: 14-45.  3-POINTERS (Getzfreid 2, Hovey 1). FTS. 12-19. REBOUNDS:  40 (Triplett 12, Hovey 10, A. Vigil 7). ASSISTS: 12 (Hovey 3, Vavra 2, Longshore 2, Triplett, 2) STEALS: 13 (Hovey 4, Longshore 3). TO: 28
THERMOPOLIS: FGS: 13-48. 3-POINTERS:  (Baylee Dickinson1). FTS: 4-14. REBOUNDS: 35. ASSISTS: 10. STEALS: 10. TO: 38.
Riverside 50, Rocky Mountain 33
Riverside:    17  6  16  11 - 50
Rocky Mountain:    9  5  11  8 - 33
RIVERSIDE: Getzfreid, 13, Vavra 11, Triplett 10, Hovey 8, Vigil 4, Michelle Hovey 3, Tanya Twitchell 1. FGS: 18-44. 3-POINTERS: 4 (Getzfreid 3, Vavra 1). FTS: 10-21. REBOUNDS: 26 (Triplett 8, Hovey 5). ASSISTS: 14 (Triplett 4, Getzfreid 4, Vigil 3). STEALS: 12 (Hovey 5, Getzfreid 3). TO: 14.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN:  FG: 13-40. FT: 7-15. REBOUNDS: 35. ASSISTS: 7. STEALS: 6. TO: 24.