Game 91: Riverton vs. St. Joseph-Ogden (Boy's Basketball)

Game 91
(2/13/10)
Riverton vs. St. Joseph-Ogden (Boy's Basketball)
Riverton Shootout

After dining in the hospitality room, I headed back up to my perch in the balcony at the Hawk Center in Riverton. I was greeted by Jeff Williams of Orion, the father of sure-fire All-State sophomore Tanner Williams. I had the Orion/Monmouth-Roseville broadcast burned on CD for him. We talked a little Orion basketball, and he also informed me that Tanner's 16-under AAU team (Martin Brothers Select) is ranked (#3) nationally heading into the season. Their year begins in April.

After my talk with Jeff, Annawan head coach Merritt Burns stopped by. Ironically, he was in Riverton scouting the Orion Chargers. The Braves have been playing well lately, after losing three starters in December due to team violations. Orion is a potential matchup in the Regionals for Annawan. His team was coming off a tight, high scoring affair against Mercer County, in which the Braves fell (74-71).

This third game of the day was my mystery matchup. I knew very little about either team coming in. Riverton head coach Kyle Weber came up and introduced himself earlier in the day, and handed me stats on his Hawks. Spartans head coach Brian Brooks shot me over stats earlier in the week, and his team has struggled this season (2-21 coming in).

The game started off slow (and that tempo would continue). St. Joe-Ogden scored only two points in the first quarter, a basket by Will Firkins. The Hawks led 10-2 after a quarter. The Spartans got more scoring in the second quarter, but were still held to single digits, and trailed the hosts 20-9 at halftime.

Riverton jumped out for good in the third quarter, leading 32-14 after three quarters. Riverton outscored St. Joe-Ogden 12-5 in the third quarter. The Spartans hit double-digits in the fourth quarter, but still fell 34-27.

The Hawks were led by sophomore Zach Yoggerst's 18 points. He was named the Player of the Game. St. Joseph-Ogden was led by Bryant Robbins' 7 points.

Playing the "Name Game", Zach Yoggerst may be my favorite name to say (pronounced: YOH-GURST). At the end of the Riverton Shootout blog, I will announce my starting five All-Name Team from the shootout.

The Quest File Notes
Game 91
Date: 2/13/10
Result: In a slow-down game, Riverton beats St. Joseph-Ogden 34-27
Miles: 0