WEST JORDAN — Bingham looked every bit the part of the defending state champion in Thursday’s 6A championship rematch with rival Copper Hills.
After a slow start offensively, the Miners turned things up over the final three quarters, rolling to the convincing 72-53 victory in the Region 3 opener.
Bingham had four players score in double figures in a victory that coach Charron Mason characterized as a great “team win.”
“This team is really fun. They’re so fun to coach, they work hard for each other, they love each other,” Mason said.
Trailing by two after the first quarter, Bingham upped the intensity in the second quarter, building a seven-point halftime lead courtesy of a banked half-courter at the buzzer by Ameleya Angilau. The Miners stretched the lead to a dozen after the third quarter and then pitched a tent at the foul line in the fourth quarter to ice the easy victory.
Angilau led the way with 16 points, with Jaycee Lichtie adding 14, Chloe Daniels chipping in with 12 and Samantha Holman adding 11.
“We love playing like that — we love playing like a team. It doesn’t matter who scores, it doesn’t matter what’s going on, we’re just going to play as a team,” said Mason.
Defense is what Mason believes ultimately allowed her team to start to pull away midway through the second quarter.
Leading 18-17, Bingham got five straight stops defensively and at the other end scored on four of five possessions to stretch the lead to 26-17. In the third quarter, the Miners continued to get stops while offensively they attacked the rim, scoring the bulk of their points in the paint and at the free-throw line.
Bingham finished the game making an impressive 25 of 31 free throws (80%) compared to just 6 of 14 for Copper Hills.
All but four of those attempts came in the second half, with a bunch coming in the fourth quarter as the Grizzlies fouled to try and claw back in the game.
Bingham’s strength at the free-throw line bodes well as it pushes for another region and state title this season.
Mason said Thursday’s win was an important one as her team took some lumps in the preseason — particularly in a blowout loss to Fremont.
“We’re just trying to kind of find our rhythm, and we hope we just keep progressing,” said Mason.
For Copper Hills, Eleyana Tafisi led the way with 15 points as the Grizzlies had their three-game winning streak snapped.