Region 2 teams this season likely have spent plenty of time worrying about how they’ll stop Copper Hills senior Ellie Taylor, but Thursday night’s game proved that Taylor isn’t going to be the only problem to deal with.
At one point in the third quarter of a Copper Hills blowout, the scoreboard could have feasibly read “Bingham 20 – Skylie Barker 20.”
Barker, a phenomenal junior guard for the Grizzlies, finished with 22 points — including four 3-pointers — as Copper Hills went on the road and ran over rival Bingham 52-33.
Barker was the top scorer of the game, with Tayler chipping in another 14 points. The win kept Copper Hills undefeated at 14-0.
“It’s region,” Barker said. “We all try to step up our game, whether it’s on the defensive end or on offense. I guess tonight, it was on offense (for me).”
The Grizzlies defense, which came into the game allowing just 37.2 points per game, forced the Miners into more turnovers than points scored in the first quarter to rush out to a 16-3 lead, including a 12-0 run to end the quarter.
Being a hometown rivalry between the South Jordan and West Jordan communities, Copper Hills entered the matchup as the better team but prepared for a fight with the formidable Miners. Student sections for the two teams were well-attended and roughly the same size.
“It’s a good win any time you get a win against Bingham on their home court,” Grizzlies head coach Jake Timpson said. “They’re a great program, they’re well-coached, so we knew it was going to be tough. We knew we were going to have to do it on the defensive end. That first quarter really helped us.”
Bingham made a better game of it before halftime, cutting into the lead with a 10-0 run to trail 18-13. A free throw made it 18-14, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Barker and Taylor just before the half ended pushed the lead back to 10 by halftime.
Taylor was the most dominant force of the first half with 12 points going into the break. Many of her shots came relatively undefended as Bingham was surprisingly slow to pick her up on the court.
By halftime, the Miners learned their lesson and played tougher on Taylor throughout, but that only left Barker all the more open to go on a tear. After scoring nine points in the first half, she dropped three treys and 11 points in just the third quarter to make the Grizzlies’ lead insurmountable.
Barker’s four triples were a career-high, and her 22 points marked her third game scoring over 20 points this season.
“Ellie Taylor’s a great player, and having someone there like Skylie Barker is just as good,” Timpson said. “When (opponents) are coming in and they’re pressing and trying to take Ellie out of the game, we needed someone to step up. I thought Skylie stepped offensively…she’s invaluable to this game, and both of them are stars on the offensive and defensive end.”
Copper Hills stands, as previously mentioned, at 14-0 on the season. In Timpson’s four years as head coach, the Grizzlies’ highest win total on a season is 18, a mark likely to be surpassed by this year’s squad.
The Grizzlies will be at home on Jan. 16 against Mountain Ridge, while Bingham travels to Riverton.