For a quarter and a half, the two girls' basketball teams were even, trading leads and keeping up with each other in a fast-paced game. But for the last four minutes of the second quarter, the Miners just became the better team. They forced turnovers and outrebounded the Darts and cruised in the second half for a 60-37 win.

"We're young this year so we're working on our chemistry," said senior guard Nicole Yazzie, who had 10 points. "But we're more mature this year. We know how to handle different situations."

The Miners haven't been in many close games this season but the Darts kept up with Bingham in the early going. Bingham started to pull away with a 7-0 run to push the lead to double digits.

The Darts did themselves in by trying to force shots and force the ball inside. Davis did get the lead down to four points but a foul was called when Yazzie attempted a three-pointer with a little more than a second left. She made all three give Bingham a 30-23 lead going into halftime.

"Bingham is so disciplined. they know what they want to do and they'll run into they'll get it," said Davis coach Amy Wright. "I liked our first half but we need to work on playing as a team and trust each other more."

The Miners' rebounding, especially on the offensive end, allowed them to build on their lead. On top of the turnovers, the Darts went cold from the field, shooting about 17 percent.

Davis has had an up-and-down preseason. One of the peaks was being very competitive against American Fork, an early favorite for a Class 5A title. Against the Miners, though, Davis was outrebounded 15-7 in the second half and committed 14 turnovers. On the other hand, Bingham is off to a 7-0 start.

But Bingham coach Rand Rasmussen is convinced that his team is nowhere near the caliber of American Fork and Riverton.

"No one is going to beat them," Rasmussen said. "We certainly haven't peaked but I'm pleased with the effort."

mthach@sltrib.com