It was apparent early in Riley Bevington’s basketball career that she had the talent to make an impact at Roaring Fork High School. 

Bevington remembers attending Rams games as a kid and dreaming of one day hearing her own name announced to a raucous crowd. 

“I remember going to high school games as a kid, and the starting lineups getting announced,” she said. “That’s all I ever wanted.”

The simple desire to represent her hometown team quickly grew into an obsession with the game.

“That really made me fall in love with the game, and I wanted desperately to start my freshman year, so I just started working really hard,” she said. “It is the culture of basketball and the style of the game itself that really grabbed me.”

Bevington announced her commitment to continue her athletic career at Idaho State University in an Instagram post in August — accomplishing a goal she has worked toward since first putting on a Rams uniform. 

She said the Rams’ locker room culture when she arrived as a freshman was one of the biggest motivators of her athletic career, pointing to old teammates such as Nikki Tardiff and the Crownhart twins taking her under their wings. 

“Playing with girls like the twins and Nikki coming into the team really helped motivate me to get better,” she said. “We have had great teams and great cultures throughout all my time here, and it really makes me want to be that same way for the kids coming up.”

When Bevington moved from middle school to high school, there was little question in incoming Rams head coach Mike Vidakovich’s mind about whether she would make the varsity roster. 

“I was the Glenwood Middle School coach when she was in eighth grade, and I told Albert Blanc, who was supposed to be the head coach of the Rams, ‘You have a freshman coming in that will not only be a starter, but she’ll be all-conference,'” Vidakovich said.

Vidakovich said Bevington already had the talent at that age, along with the willingness to continue developing.

“Even in eighth grade, I could see that Riley would be an exceptional talent, and she’s always been willing to work very hard to keep developing,” he said. “I’m really happy for her and for the entire team.”

Vidakovich was quickly rewarded by taking a chance on Bevington. In her first game for  Roaring Fork, she scored 20 points in 19 minutes. By the end of her freshman campaign, Bevington’s 104 field goals ranked 23rd in 3A. 

Again, Bevington pointed to the Rams’ locker room as a key to her success, saying it allowed her to push everything else aside and simply play basketball. 

“Those girls are still some of my best friends to this day,” she said. “It was so much fun to play with them, and how we were able to make it a friendship and not a super strict environment.”

Bevington continued to improve as she grew into the high school game, fulfilling the potential Vidakovich first saw i from the opposite bench when she was still in middle school. 

As a sophomore, Bevington’s 165 field goals ranked among the top 35 in the state. She took another leap during the 2025-26 season. 

Bevington’s points per 32 minutes — a statistic estimating how many points a player would score if they played all 32 minutes of the game — ranked among the top 10 nationally. According to MaxPreps, her 32.7 points per 32 minutes ranked seventh in the country. 

Her actual average of 26.2 points per game ranked third in Colorado, while her 234 field goals led Class 3A. 

Bevington credited Vidakovich’s coaching style and his belief in the team with helping her reach her potential. 

“The way all the coaches build up our team and stick with us makes a huge difference for us,” she said. “(Vidakovich) is definitely a huge motivator for not only me but all the girls. He really helps keep the team culture and winning mentality alive through different groups.”

Although Bevington now knows where the next chapter of her basketball career will take her, she still has one shot at a state title with the Rams. 

Roaring Fork finished 6-14 before Bevington arrived. Since she joined the program, the Rams have gone 61-14 with three playoff appearances, a Great Eight appearance, and a Class 3A Western Slope title. 

The Rams will feature plenty of new faces in 2026-27, but Bevington said the turnover has done little to dampen her expectations. 

“I am really excited,” she said. “We are already getting the younger girls in the gym. The biggest thing will be keeping their interest up and helping them develop further. We’re already ready to go.”

Looking ahead to Idaho State, Bevington joked that her first year as a Bengal won’t be as memorable as it was at Roaring Fork, but she expects being around a group of Division I athletes is going to be like her old locker room, just more intense. 

“I am really looking forward to being around a group of girls that want it as badly as I do,” Bevington said. “I don’t have anyone here to train with every single day, besides my dad, so I think that being around so many girls that want it as badly as I do will help me a lot. I’ll just need to get the hang of the quicker speed of the game, and I’ll be right back at it.”

The 2026-27 Roaring Fork schedule has not yet been released., The girls basketball schedule typically begins during the first week of December.