Curtains close on Rebel cagers

The Riverside Rebels showed up Thursday at the Class 1A West Regional to try to conquer Cokeville, but were unable to secure the win.  

“They were a tough team that ended up winning the tournament and we didn’t play our best, but I felt like at times we competed well,” said Coach Scott Winters. “We were able to hit some outside shots with Ryder Kozisek leading the way going 5 for 6 from three, but we weren’t able to get to the free throw line as much as I would have liked and Cokeville did a great job of moving the ball and hitting open shots.” 

In a loser-out game Friday, the Rebels battled St. Stephens. It was a fast-paced game and St Stephens took an early lead with the Rebels in foul trouble. 

“But we had a lot of guys come up big for us off the bench,” said Winters. “Mason Brown, who hasn’t seen a lot of varsity minutes this year, came in and played solid defense and hit two big free throws. 

“Eli Jensen had one of his best varsity games offensively, and freshman Kenneth McClure came in and played really good minutes for us in a close game down the stretch.”

Two of the Rebels starters, Avery Clifford and Paul Stone, fouled out and Wyatt Daly-Patterson sprained his ankle early in the game taking him out of play so there was a clear need for the rest of the team to step up. 

“It was a chaotic final few minutes of the game with several costly turnovers by both teams and traded big threes down the stretch. Our final play we were down one with about 5 seconds left, Hyson fumbled the ball and fell, but hit it ahead to Gavyn Cervantes who was able to drive to the basket and make it with .5 seconds left and we got the win. 

“It was one of the most exciting games I have been a part of and was glad our players could experience that and come out on top.” 

The win set them up against Burlington Saturday with the knowledge that the winner would advance to the state tournament. The Rebels started out decently in the first quarter but started to lose ground. 

Coach Winters critiqued his team’s performance: “Burlington was able to transition, have good ball movement and get lots of rebounds while we struggled to execute offensively and were a step slow on the defensive end and got outhustled for loose balls.” 

 “I thought we showed a lot of heart, but were unable to cut into the lead and our season ended.”

Winters continued, “It was a tough way for our season to end, but I was extremely proud of this team and all we were able to accomplish this year. We have a lot of great boys that work hard and it’s been an honor to coach them. We will miss all our seniors, but we have a lot of young guys that are more than capable of stepping up next year if they put the time in this summer.”

Cokeville 25 16 19 12 — 72

Riverside 10 10  8  20 — 48

RIVERSIDE – Hyson Hill 1-8 0-0 2, Kenneth Mcclure 0-0 0-0 0, Brenden Powell 1-1 0-0 2, Matthew Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Paul Stone 3-6 0-0 7, Jon Mendenhall 0-0 0-0 0, Lane Owen 0-0 0-0 0, Gavyn Cervantes 0-0 0-0 0, Avery Clifford 4-9 2-2 10, Wyatt Daly-Patterson 2-5 0-0 5, Ryder Kozisek 7-9 0-0 19, Eli Jensen 1-2 0-0 3, Mason Brown 0-0 0-0 0,  

3 POINT GOALS – 8 (Ryder Kozisek 5), REBOUNDS – Riverside 18 (Ryder Kozisek 5) STEALS – Riverside 2 (Hyson Hill 1, Ryder Kozisek 1) TURNOVERS – Riverside 12

St. Stephens 21 19 11 18        – 69

Riverside 17  9  20 24        – 70

RIVERSIDE – Hyson Hill 4-11 4-5 12, Kenneth Mcclure 0-1 0-0 0, Brenden Powell 3-3 1-2 1, Matthew Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Paul Stone 0-1 1-2 1, Jon Mendenhall 0-0 0-0 0, Lane Owen 0-0 0-0 0, Gavyn Cervantes 1-2 0-0 2, Avery Clifford 5-9 3-6 14, Wyatt Daly-Patterson 0-0 0-0 0, Ryder Kozisek 9-26 3-4 25, Eli Jensen 5-10 1-3 13, Mason Brown 0-0 2-2 2,  

3 POINT GOALS – 7 (Ryder Kozisek 4), REBOUNDS – Riverside 29 (Ryder Kozisek 10) STEALS – Riverside 17 (Avery Clifford 6) TURNOVERS – Riverside 15

Burlington 19 21 11  9         – 60

Riverside 14  7   9   9         – 39

RIVERSIDE – Hyson Hill 2-5 0-0 5, Kenneth Mcclure 0-0 0-0 0, Brenden Powell 0-1 0-0 0, Matthew Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Paul Stone 0-1 0-2 0, Jon Mendenhall 2-2 0-0 4, Lane Owen 0-0 0-0 0, Gavyn Cervantes 2-3 0-0 4, Avery Clifford 4-5 3-4 12, Wyatt Daly-Patterson 1-5 1-1 3, Ryder Kozisek 3-7 0-0 8, Eli Jensen 1-3 0-0 3, Mason Brown 0-0 0-0 0,  

3 POINT GOALS – 5 (Ryder Kozisek 2) REBOUNDS – Riverside 12 (Paul Stone 3) STEALS – Riverside 12 (Ryder Kozisek 7) TURNOVERS – Riverside 28