If my count is correct, there are 24 days remaining before the conclusion of the boys basketball regular season.
Of course, if that's true, most teams around Idaho should have just started digging into the meat of their conference schedules. If Idaho beef is your meat of choice, then tonight's Bonneville vs. Rigby game is the prime-rib of 4A boys basketball in Eastern Idaho.
Both the Bees and the Trojans meet up tonight (Jan. 16) in Rigby for the first of two conference matchups (the second of which takes place on Feb. 8, the final night of regular season play). Both teams are off to hot starts. Both teams are looking to solidify their positions in the High Country Conference. And yes, both teams are looking to shed the pre-season predictions about themselves.
Bonneville flew out of the gate with an 8-0 start before falling by two points to conference-foe Century on Jan. 4. The Bees are a team that hasn't been to the Real Dairy Shootout (State Tournament) since the 2007-08 season, when they fell to the Burley Bobcats 75-54 in the State Title game. Bonneville has gotten off to quick starts in recent seasons, only to fade when it came time for the district tournament.
What is the difference this season?: Defense.
The Bees hold the #1 defense in the conference, giving up an average of 52.3 points per game. A focus on defense has been made this year by first-year Bonneville head coach Brian Broaddus and it seems to be paying off thus far. We better not forget that the Bees can shoot extremely well too. Bonneville sports a rather balanced attack led by junior Jared Stutzman, who is in his 3rd season as a starter for Bonneville and has also been garnering the attention of college coaches around the region. The Bees currently sit at 11-1, including a 4-1 mark in conference play and a #2 ranking in the State-Wide Media Polls.
Rigby, meanwhile, has been plodding under the radar seemingly. That's not an easy thing to do if you're the defending 4A State Champions. That being said, this team has a much different look that it did last year. Gone are the talents of Dylan Jones, the silky-smooth shooting of 2012 4A Idaho Player of the Year Kamen McCullough, and the six supporting cast team members who helped lead the Trojans to their first State Title since 1987, all due to graduation.
Rigby currently posts a modest 7-5 record overall, but a perfect 4-0 mark in conference play. The few holdovers from last years' title team want to make sure they have a chance to defend the trophy they all cherish. Tonight's game against Bonneville can be a stepping stone towards that goal.
Rigby returns big man Jon-Ryheem Peoples, a 6'6", 300 lbs force underneath the hoop. Not only can Peoples pound the ball down low effectively, he also sports an adept shooting touch from the outside. The Trojans also lean on Hyrum Prestwich, Tyrel Phillips, and Clayton Iglinski to put pressure on opposing teams when Peoples is double and triple-teamed down low.
Even with losing so many seniors from last season's team, Rigby head coach Justin Jones and his crew have seemingly stepped up the intensity and scrappiness of their game. In a game I attended earlier this season, I saw that the Trojans definitely know how to out-scrap and out-grit an opponent if they need to.
Tonight's battle in Rigby will go a long way in determining where each team really sits at this point in the season and how much work needs to be done to attain the goal of playing in the Real Dairy Shooutout once again.
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