Riverton basketball: Girls 2011-12 season recap

In early March, I interviewed Riverton girls basketball coach Ron Ence and published his team's 2011-12 yearbook. Here is the article that recapped the team's season.

Silverwolves create some believers

Saunders gets a lot
of help as Riverton rolls
to another region title

By Bruce Smith
Matchup

The biggest, most-memorable event of the Riverton Silverwolves’ 2011-12 girls basketball season didn’t come on the basketball court.

It came in print – and it was midway through the season. As the Silverwolves were plodding along with a 7-3 record, the Deseret News published its preview of 5A basketball and picked them fourth in Region 4. After seeing that, coach Ron Ence had no problem inspiring his team.

“The article did slight us. We had kids with varsity experience returning, but we were working to find what rotation would work,” Ence said.

During that time, Riverton was in the middle of a winning streak that eventually lasted six weeks. In that time, Riverton turned itself and all of Region 4 into believers. The Silverwolves eventually finished with a 19-5 record, captured the region crown for the second straight year and advanced all the way to the 5A semifinals.

“It wasn’t a huge surprise to us because we had high expectations,” Ence said. “I thought this team – by the end of December – could compete with anybody.”

What made Riverton so strong was its defense – and depth. Riverton gave up an average of 37.5 points per game, which was second-best in 5A.

On offense, Whitney Saunders averaged 10.8 points per game and was the team’s leading scorer. She was also voted the Region 4 MVP. Morganne Campbell was named to the first team and four other players (Jamie Smith, Gerika Ballard, Lauren Bond and Andy Denos) were on the second team or honorable mention.

However, the Silverwolves had other contributors. At least nine different players made a difference and they often did at key times.

Take junior Jamie Smith, for example. She averaged 7.5 points per game, but reached double figures seven times. Her best outings came in important games like Fremont, Timpview, Pleasant Grove, Lone Peak, American Fork and the season finale against Weber.

Senior Andy Denos came off the bench all season. However, she saved her best games for rival Bingham. She averaged less than 4.0 ppg, but had 10 and 11 points in wins over the Miners. Any Riverton player can tell you that beating Bingham was a big part in their region title.

“Our team was ‘win by committee,’” Ence said. “Our players had a role. When we were successful, we were getting balanced scoring. I’d love to have a top gun but the girls didn’t seem to care who scored.

“With this team, we were going to be successful when everyone contributed.”

Fittingly, Riverton clinched the region title at home against Bingham. Despite having a No. 1 seed, the media once again didn’t expect the Silverwolves to play a role in deciding the 5A champion. Riverton wasn’t impressive in beating Granger in the first round, but earned its biggest victory two days later when it upset(?) Layton.

“When we won that game, we realized we just had to win one more to make the final,” Ence said. “Once that happened, it was a big deal for us and the school.”

The Lancers had lost just twice all season – both to eventual champion Syracuse, which won it all and finished 22-0. Riverton’s chance at its first-ever state title fell short, however, when the Silverwolves lost to Weber the next day.

“It was a tough way to end an amazing run, and an amazing season,” Ence said.

The school support was there, too. The students had always come to the Bingham games, but they also began to grow late in the year as they realized this could be a special season.