This couldn't have been the team that beat Lone Peak and American Fork last week.

For the first quarter of its game against Hillcrest on Wednesday, Brighton missed easy buckets, turned the ball over too frequently and failed to make a field goal for the first five minutes of the game. But the Bengals returned to old form for the remaining three quarters and cruised by Hillcrest 63-40 to improve to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in region.

"Once we start going, we just start flowing," said Sam Wunderli, who had a big role in sparking the Bengals in the second quarter. "We put pressure on them and we got out in the passing lane."

Unlike the two narrow victories over the Knights and the Cavemen, the Bengals could relax by the fourth, thanks to a second quarter that saw Brighton outscore Hillcrest 21-2.

"We played hard for three quarters," Hillcrest coach Sam Richins. "But we let down in the second and Brighton pushed the tempo. They're just so athletic and so deep."

Hillcrest didn't take advantage of Brighton's slow start as much as it could have. The biggest lead the Huskies had was 7-1 after a couple free throws by Matt Pecht.

Wunderli's basket with 2:49 left in the first got the Bengals going, and by the end of the quarter, Brighton closed the gap to 13-12. The Bengals got their first lead shortly into the second quarter. The lead changed hands just one more time and then Brighton controlled it the rest of the way.

Brighton applied a press that visibly flustered the Huskies.

Defensively, players like Wunderli, Austin Hudson and Xan Ricketts made it hard for Hillcrest to get any layups or close-range shots

"Our second and third rotation really stepped up," Hudson said. "This is one of our more complete games as a team."

Besides stifling defense, Brighton's scoring was balanced. Hudson led the scoring with 13 but Corbin Miller was good for 11 points and Wunderli scored 10 points. Ten players scored for Brighton and although the turnovers were a bit high, it was Brighton's biggest margin of victory this season.

mthach@sltrib.com