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Tournament Provides Funds and Experience for the Silverwolves

Jan 27, 2016 09:21AM ● By Greg James

By Greg James | [email protected]

South Valley - The Riverton Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament has become a popular place to hang out during the school’s holiday break and prepares the team for the beginning of region play.

The third annual Riverton tournament was held Dec. 28-31. The Silverwolves came into this year’s tournament as the defending champions.

“This is our team’s fundraiser; we have several teams come into our gym. It works out good for us. We get four straight games with no practices in between, a coach’s nightmare, but it gives us plenty of experience to get ready for region,” Silverwolves head coach Skyler Wilson said.

The tournament offered games for varsity, junior varsity and sophomore teams for all of the eight attending schools. Dixie, Wasatch, Cyprus, Granger, Hunter, Kearns, Riverton and Taylorsville high schools participated in this year’s tournament. 

The Silverwolves opened the tournament with a 59-46 loss to Dixie. The Flyers scored 20 points in the fourth quarter pull away from the host team. Joey Andrews scored 20 points in the loss.

“We have been inconsistent; sometimes we have had times where I feel we are really coming along. Then there are times we are figuring out how to play,” Wilson said. “With our loss we will not defend our tournament championship, but we will continue to work and play hard.”

In the consolation bracket the Silverwolves defeated Taylorsville 53-40 and Granger 70-40; they finished in fifth place.

In the tournament championship game, the Dixie Flyers defeated Kearns 58-56. Kearns trailed by 10 points with two minutes remaining in the game, but the Flyers held Kearns off for the victory. The Flyers Tyler Bennett scored 25 points.

Bennett was the tournament’s most valuable player. Riverton’s Joey Andrews, Tayler Mareliz (Kearns), Richard Guymon (Dixie), Garret Davis (Wasatch) and Mckay Meidlinger (Hunter) were voted to the all-tournament team. The varsity championship game closed out the tournament. In all, there was 48 games played over the four days.

“Joey [Andrews] has played a lot for us. He has the experience and the skills. We look to him to provide a spark for us,” Wilson said.

The Silverwolves lost its region opener to Herriman 35-24 on Jan. 8. Andrews scored 11 and 6’6” senior Chase Eggett hit one three pointer for his only points of the game.

“Chase [Eggett] is our best shooter and tallest guy, which is unique. We have challenged him to give us more inside play. That is something our team really needs. He is such a great kid. As a team we are just trying to play better,” Wilson said.

Riverton plays in Region 4 against some of the best high school basketball teams in the state. Lone Peak, Lehi, American Fork and Westlake high schools have all spent time in the Deseret News 5A top five this season.

“There are no games in region that we can just show up and win. Every night it is a dog fight. We did surprise some teams last season, hopefully we can do it again this year. These are great kids and lots of fun to coach,” Wilson said.