SOUTH JORDAN — Bingham coach Rand Rasmussen had plenty to smile about Saturday afternoon, and it had little to do with his team's impressive performance in a 49-24 victory over Layton.
First of all, returning all-stater Megan Marks played with an aggressiveness that's been sorely missing the first nine games of the season. Equally as important, Cami Hymas — last year's Region 3 defensive played of the year — is slowly getting back into the swing of things after missing six games with pneumonia.
"Today she played like the Megan of old," said Rasmussen about Marks' 11-point performance. "She had a lot of energy, she blocked shots and she ran the floor."
For as well as Marks played, in addition to Hymas' six points in limited minutes off the bench, Bingham clearly won because of its overwhelming defense.
Despite handling the Miners' full-court press with relative effectiveness, the Lancers' half-court offense could do nothing against Bingham's pressure defense. Layton only made 9-of-40 field goals compared to Bingham's 18-of-47.
"I didn't think we executed too well running our offense today," said Layton coach Rob Reisbeck.
In fairness to the Lancers, they were shorthanded for a good stretch of the game thanks to a freak head injury to starting guard Amber Strong. Early in the second quarter, with Bingham leading 14-4, Strong penetrated the lane and collided with Bingham's Stephanie Sampson, who was called for the blocking foul.
While most of Strong's body landed on Sampson, her head crashed into the floor. Strong laid on the ground for several minutes before being helped to the sideline with an apparent concussion. For precautionary reasons, the paramedics arrived at halftime and Strong was wheeled out of the gym on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
As distraught as Layton's players were at seeing their teammate taken off on a stretcher, Reisbeck reminded them that the always-competitive Strong would have wanted them to continue plugging away in the second half.
Layton did exactly that early in the third quarter by trimming Bingham's 17-point halftime lead to 29-16, thanks to a quick 7-2 run.
"We came out with a little more energy, but Bingham was on fire," said Reisbeck. "Whatever they wanted to do, they did."
The Miners responded to Layton's run by closing the quarter on an 18-2 run to open up a 47-18 lead.
"Our defense was a lot better today," said Rasmussen. "We've had to have some heart-to-hearts; we call them a Rand Fireside. That's when I do all the talking and they do all the nodding of the head."
It paid off Saturday as No. 2 Bingham improved to 8-1, while Layton fell to 6-3.
In addition to Marks' seven points, junior Justine Bates chipped in with 11. Layton (6-3) was led by Sheila Adams' nine points.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com