This basketball season, Rigby, Ririe, West Jefferson and Clark County high school teams for boys basketball are heading into what coaches believe will be an excellent season for growth, learning and triumph.
West Jefferson
Boys Varsity
TERRETON — Returning to the West Jefferson Boys Varsity team this year are seniors Blake Briggs, Creed Jacobs and junior Jaron Rojas, according to head Coach Kelvin Krosch. After graduating five seniors from the team last year, he stated several players are returning this season, though he has added Cooper Hall and Bo Peterson from junior varsity this year.
Last year, the Panthers placed fourth in their district. This year, Krosch has impressive goals for his team.
“Our number one goal is to go undefeated in our conference during the regular season,” he said. “Goal number two is to be District Champions. Goal three is to go undefeated at home.”
These goals, he said, are realistic goals for the team. He stated this is West Jefferson’s second year with the program which means it won’t be too much of a learning curb for the team as far as what the expectations are.
“Right now, we’re about where we were by mid January last year,” Krosch said. “So we’re pretty advanced in our expectations.”
West Jefferson’s first game will be against Teton on Dec. 6, and when playing against Teton, Krosch stated the Panthers have to focus on rebounding. One of West Jefferson’s weaknesses is the lack of height — according to Krosch, their boys aren’t very tall.
Teton, on the other hand, has height and “athletic big.”
Along with focusing on rebounds, Krosch stated the Panthers have to be able to put balls through the hoop. Last year, he said, the shooters struggled with accuracy, so this year he is focusing on obtaining a higher percentage by putting an emphasis on shooting during practice.
The West Jefferson Panthers will be playing Teton High School on Wednesday, Dec. 14 in Teton.
Ririe Boys Varsity
RIRIE — Returning this season for the Ririe Bulldogs Varsity are seniors Sterling Bybee, Ethan Miller and Jackson Johnson, according to Head Coach Jordan Hamilton. The team also has two new members this year, he said, are juniors Rhett Barber and Aaron Martinez.
Despite being new to the team, Hamilton praises the work Barber and Martinez have put in to their game. Hamilton stated younger players have a tendency to take a backseat. These new boys, he said, haven’t done that, but have instead been proactive and impacting their games positively.
“Chris Kern and Landon Johnson, who graduated last year, are hard to replace,” Hamilton said. “I’m hoping the whole team will work together to make up for what we’ve lost. No one player can fill their shoes.”
This year, he stated, the Bulldogs want to hang some banners and win in their conference. This is a hefty goal, Hamilton said, because their conference this year is tough.
“We did well, but we came up short,” Hamilton said about the last season. “We lost to Firth by four or five points.”
Ririe’s strengths lie in shooting, Hamilton explained. However well they shoot, he said, he wants them to be known for having a strong defense.
“They’ve been working hard,” he said. “I’m hoping our defense can grow so we can exploit the other teams’ weaknesses.”
For Hamilton, as a coach, however, this season is less about winning and losing and more about helping young boys become good men. This group of boys, he said, are exemplary on and off the court — they’re gentleman, he said, which he’s proud of.
“We’re excited to get going,” Hamilton stated. “I’m excited to see how they face adversity. We have a tough schedule and a tough conference, but how they face adversity is how they grow.”
Ririe won their first game of the season against Malad on Nov. 30. The final score was 64-33.
The Bulldogs will be leaving to Wyoming to play at the Bridger Valley Tournament on Dec. 9 and 10.
Clark County
Boys Varsity
DUBOIS — Small communities make for small basketball teams said Clark County Head Coach Tyson Shwartz. Some of the Clark County Bobcats are newer players, some who have played some basketball, others who haven’t played since a much younger age.
In preparation for this year, Shwartz stated they are focusing on teaching and reinforcing fundamentals, getting in shape and getting the team into the swing of things.
“It’s hard going from in-shape for football to in-shape for basketball, so we’re doing a lot of conditioning, making sure we have reps in offensive formation and in defense.”
Returning this year are shooting guard Ivan Perez, point guard Hunter Stevens and center Gabe Smith. Last year, three of Clark County’s seniors graduated, and their positions have been filled with a couple of “newbies,” Schwartz said. Freshman Miguel Garcia, who moved up from Junior High basketball and junior Reagan Downs, who is first-time player, are two of the new members this year.
“They all mesh well,” Shwartz said about his team this season. “It’s a small school and everybody knows everybody.”
One thing Shwartz said was very helpful last year was the coaches ability to pull aside each of the kids to work on their technique and form with shooting. This, he said, was very helpful for the students in open gym sessions as it provided them with knowledge of what to work on and how to do it in the off-season. According to Schwartz, this year the kids returned to the court and he could see the progress they had made.
“I think it’s no secret that with our low numbers, the basketball program has struggled,” Schwartz said. “But these kids are resilient and they keep working hard to play and they don’t give up. They are determined to get better.”
The Bobcats went the last couple of seasons without any wins, according to Schwartz, but with the teams resilience and dedication, he believes there are some teams in their conference they have the chance to beat this year.
His goal as a coach is to move from getting demolished in every game. He stated that by improving even a small percent will lead to the team no longer being a doormat for the other teams. Instead of losing big, he wants the team to tighten up and be tough win for other teams, or even win a few games themselves.
“We’ve got to start somewhere. We’re starting at the bottom,” he said.
The Clark County Bobcats will be playing Taylor’s Crossing at Home on Dec 8.
Rigby Boys Varsity
RIGBY— The Rigby Trojan Varsity team has three returning players this year, Noah Nunez, Jokobe Jones and Dallas Taylor. The rest of the team are all new players, according to head coach Justin Jones.
After losing nine seniors to graduation last year, the team is once again senior-heavy. 8 seniors are on the roster this season with only five underclassmen.
The returners, however, spent so much time last season with their older teammates that they have learned good leadership, Jones stated. It’s given them the opportunity to be good leaders now for their new team.
“We’re off to a great start,” said Jones. “We’re excited for the season. We have three football players, who just won the state championship, and having them here and working together has been great.”
The Trojans, as they are a new team, are taking things one day at a time. They already have high expectations, Jones stated, saying their team goal is to at least win districts, and maybe State.
“We’re very athletic,” he said. “Since most of the team is new, we’re still learning our strengths, but they play hard and that’s always a good thing to see in a basketball team.”
Rigby won their first game of the season against Idaho Falls High School on Nov. 30. The final score was 65-50.
The Rigby Trojans will be playing Skyline High School at Home on Dec.8.
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