Defending champion Bingham served notice that it is, again, the team to beat in this year's 4A state girls' basketball tournament with a convincing 81-48 victory over Roy in opening-round action Tuesday night.
The Miners, now 21-0 for the year, raced to a 27-8 first quarter lead against the Royals. In a sport where many teams fail to score 35 points in a game, the Miners held a 35-point lead for most of the second half, even after Miner coach Rand Rasmussen began playing just about anyone living in South Jordan."I was a little concerned about the layoff we've had," Rasmussen said post-game. "We haven't played in 11 days. Fortunately, we ended up playing a lot of people. Roy played us very tough in preseason (a 66-50 Miner win), so I'm glad we were able to handle them tonight."
Bingham built a 50-25 halftime lead, as Kae Cee Arnold scored 20 of her game-high 22 points. Just three minutes into the third quarter, many Bingham reserves began entering the game, and the Miners coasted to a 33-point victory.
In addition to Arnold's performance, 13 other Miners scored, including Jenni Johnson with 14, Laura Applegate with eight and both Michelle Peterson and Debbie Dimond with seven each. Dimond was a dominant force inside, blocking five shots and grabbing a handful of rebounds despite seeing limited playing time due to the big lead. Roy was sparked by Annette Hill with 15 points and Kristen Belnap with eight.
Other first-round games
American Fork 62, Skyline 55: The Cavemen scored only three field goals in the second half, all by freshman sensation Julie Krommenhoek, but American Fork made an amazing 22 of 28 free throws in the final half alone to drop Skyline.
Coach Shauna McAllister's team has been making about 80 percent of its free throws all year, and Tuesday night's effort finished with the Cavemen converting exactly 80 percent - 32 of 40 shots.
Krommenhoek's defense was a big difference, as she made three key steals in the final quarter and finished with 22 points, including a perfect 14 for 14 from the line. Fellow freshman Tori Allen scored 12 points, all from the line, while teammate Jeanette Yazzie also tallied 12. Skyline's Annie Beddos and Ginger Cannon tied for team-high honors with 16 apiece. The game was tight most of the way, but a steal and subsequent layin by Krommenhoek with 2:45 left gave the Cavemen a five-point lead they never relinquished.
Brighton 52, Hunter 37: The host Bengals found themselves trailing by a point entering the fourth quarter Tuesday night, but Brighton salted the game away with a 25-9 scoring spurt against upstart Hunter.
Brighton iced the win with 14 of 16 free throws, led by Annette Monson with 14 points and both Camille Lubeck and Racheal Jensen with nine points. Hunter was paced by Daniela Fischer, who scored two three-pointers and 13 points, and Coby Winn with nine.
Viewmont 48, Taylorsville 33: The Bengals will meet Viewmont in a second-round winner's bracket game tonight. The always-tough Viking defense prevailed against the Warriors as Jennifer Jones scored 20 and Heather Le Mon 14, while Viewmont's "D" did the rest.
Viewmont led 22-14 at the half. Nicki Burnham added eight for the Vikes, while Taylorsville was led by Jill Chapman with 12 and Amy Vargecko with 11.
Orem 55, Olympus 34: At Orem, the host Tigers won the early contest by taking a 36-16 halftime lead and coasting home. Suzie Paulsen scored 14, Gina Snarr 12 and Tami Frame 11 for the Golden Tigers, while Oly was led by Melissa Gundersen with seven points.