1. Bingham double-trouble
It was a great year to be a Bingham Miner in 2006.
First, the boys basketball team captured the 5A championship in March with a thrilling title-game victory over rival Riverton on Brett Sommerville's buzzer-beater. Six months later, Bingham's football team added to the trophy haul by capturing the school's first title in 60 years by finishing with a 14-0 record.
Bingham's basketball team trailed by as many as 10 points against Riverton at the E Center, but Sommerville helped spark the improbable rally that include his game-winning 10-foot jumper as time expired.
The Miners' football team was one of the most dominant in state history, as evidenced by nine players garnering Deseret Morning News all-state first team honors, including 5A MVP Jordan Pendleton.
2. Alta gets national respect
The Alta girls soccer team raked in the hardware this year. By capturing the 5A state championship with a 20-0-0 record in the fall, the Hawks finished the season ranked No. 2 nationally in the NSCAA/adidas national rankings.
In addition to its 4-2 victory over Lone Peak in the championship game, Alta's most impressive victory was a 4-1 thrashing of Montgomery, Calif., on Sept. 15. That was the only loss of the season for Montgomery, which checked in at No. 6 in the final national rankings.
Alta forward Megan Ohai and goalkeeper Hailee DeYoung were two of the 84 girls named to the NSCAA/adidas youth all-America team.
3. A Utah McDonald's All-American
Of all the accolades bestowed upon Mountain View's Michelle Harrison, being named a McDonald's All-American takes the prize. Harrison is the only Utah girls basketball player ever to receive such an honor.
Harrison, who's now playing at Stanford, averaged a double-double with 22.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per game during her senior season. She also averaged 4.8 blocks, 3.8 assists and 3.6 steals per game in helping Mountain View to a second-place finish in 5A.
4. Cancer rears ugly head
It was an emotional year for the basketball coaching community.
Tooele coach Gary Alverson, 59, and Taylorsville coach John Bowman, 57, both passed away from cancer.
Alverson, who continued to coach until the last week of his life, passed away on Feb. 7 following a 14-month battle with lung cancer caused by asbestos.
Often regarded as one of the nicest guys in the coaching profession, Alverson won 303 games during a coaching career that lasted more than 30 years. He coached Bonneville to state titles in 1985 and 1987, and in 2005 he coached his alma mater to the 3A title in just his third season as Tooele's head coach.
Bowman passed away on July 11 following a nine-month battle with cancer. Bowman's 31-year coaching career included stints in both Colorado and Utah.
"These two guys have been involved with Utah high school basketball for 20 or 30 years," Olympus coach Matt Barnes said. "We've taken a huge blow to our coaching fraternity. They were both well-respected, high-quality people who cared a lot about kids."
5. Havili USC-bound
The lure of USC was just too much for Cottonwood running back Stanley Havili to pass up. On Jan. 15, the prized recruit announced on a local Sunday-night sports show he was committing himself to USC over BYU, Arizona State and Utah.
USC didn't seem like a realistic option for Havili after the coaching staff informed him they didn't want him serving an LDS mission. Nonetheless, following a last-minute recruiting visit from USC coach Pete Carroll, Havili decided USC was his best fit.
The 6-foot-1 back is one of the biggest football prospects to play in Utah in several years, amassing 2,652 all-purpose yards as a running back, slot receiver and kick returner during the 2005 season.
6. Mountain View's Houle retires
Mountain View's Dave Houle, who amassed 68 state championships and seven national titles in five sports and has been inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame, retired from the Alpine School District on Jan. 24.
His decision came after two weeks of controversy and soul-searching. He said district officials told him he had to resign or be fired because when he and his girls basketball team were in Arizona in December for the Nike Tournament of Champions he gave his hotel room to two players who were upset and unable to stay in their own rooms for different reasons.
Despite his assurances, and that of the players and their parents, that the girls were in a separate room with a locked door while Houle spent most of the night awake and out of the room, the district refused to reconsider.
Houle's long-time assistant, Laura Romo, took over as head coach.
7. Spanish Fork diamond sweep
The final week of the 2005-06 athletic season was a magical one for Spanish Fork High School as both the baseball and softball teams captured 5A championships.
On May 25, the Dons' softball team put the wraps on an impressive late-season run with a 4-0 championship-game victory over region rival Timpanogos. The following day, Spanish Fork's baseball team, which was ranked No. 1 most of the year, secured the school's fourth baseball championship with a 12-3 victory over Jordan.
8. Trickle down effect at UHSAA
Mike Petty's hiring by the Utah High School Activities Association as the new supervisor of officials may not have garnered many headlines, but it will have a major impact on the high school sporting landscape.
In the past, complaints about referees have gone to the UHSAA staff, mainly assistant director Jerry Bovee. Now, Petty will deal with those calls and issues, and the UHSAA staff hopes it makes communication more effective. Petty also will assist with and oversee the recruiting, assignment and training of officials. He's especially excited about the last item.
"That's something I kind of look forward to," said the graduate of Metro State College in Denver. "I love to work with and train the younger officials."
9. Mid-cycle realignment
Every four years the UHSAA board of trustees realigns regions to accommodate shifts in high school enrollments. Because of some unusual growth in the St. George area, as well as in Lehi, the board voted in November to change the classification of seven high schools, effective fall 2007. The classifications and regions were not due to be changed for a couple of years, but several unusual circumstances offered the board the chance to make changes midway through the realignment period.
Lehi will move to 5A's Region 4, while Mountain View will move to 4A's Region 7. Tooele is vaulting to the 4A ranks and also will compete in Region 7.
The board voted unanimously to allow Waterford to move to 3A in all its sports, despite not having football or baseball programs.
In the perhaps the most surprising move, the board classified Dixie (enrollment 1,300), Pine View (1,421) and Snow Canyon (1,154) as 4A schools. They will continue to compete in Region 9 against the remaining three 3A schools — Cedar, Hurricane and Canyon View — but will be incorporated into the 4A playoffs. The three 3A schools will be incorporated into the 3A playoffs, with details to be worked out by principals and UHSAA staff in the next couple of months.
10. Highland coaches punished
Former Highland football coach Ray Groth and current boys basketball coach Keith West were each suspended for several games this year for violating the UHSAA's undue-influence recruiting rule.
Groth was suspended for five weeks from the first day of the 2006 football season and put on probation until the 2008 season. A few days later, Groth was fired as the school's football coach, even though he's still teaching.
Groth was punished because of a phone call he made to a Granite High football player whose cousins are Highland High students and told Groth that the student was interested in attending Highland after the Granite School Board made the decision to do away with sports programs at Granite High last summer.
West also was suspended for five games — later dropped to four — and placed on one-year probation.
The UHSAA panel ruled that West's decision to play eighth-graders, several from outside the Rams' boundaries, in Highland uniforms in a spring tournament constituted undue influence.
Other notables
19-game winning streak by Hillcrest's boys hoops team.
North Sanpete's Jake Swensen and Millard's Mark Pentz became the 14th and 15th wrestlers in state history to win four individual state titles.
Rich volleyball coach Cindy Stuart gets 500th coaching victory, and another state title.
Several Richfield students slaughter a ram leading up to rivalry football game with South Sevier.
Contributing: James Edward, Amy Donaldson
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com