South Jordan » Bingham's Chalese Fankhauser just lost control of the ball and it happened at the worst time. The Miners had a two-point lead over Riverton with less than a minute to play and a turnover was the last thing Bingham needed.

But Fankhauser didn't hang her head. She stole an inbounds pass in the last 30 seconds that helped Bingham hold on to a 32-30 win in a crucial region match-up against Riverton on Thursday.

"I had to keep my confidence up. I was ready to redeem myself," Fankhauser said. "I had to give it my all and knew I had to pick it up right there."

The game between Riverton and Bingham was an intense defensive battle. Riverton threw different defenses at the Miners and succeeded in keeping them from getting into a groove offensively. On the other end, though, Bingham's stingy, in-your-face defense kept things even.

"It was a struggle to get good looks," Riverton coach Ron Ence said. "Bingham plays some of the best defense in the state."

But Riverton managed to pull away in the second as they scored 13 points, the only time either team scored in double-digits in a quarter. A three by Caitlin Nelson pushed the lead to five, the biggest of the game. The Silverwolves did a good job of recognizing mismatches and got most of their points from inside the key and went into halftime with a 20-17 lead.

Things started to look a little bleak with Rachel Gines picking up her third and fourth foul back-to-back in the middle of the third quarter. Gines is Bingham's big presence inside and she's an impact player on the defensive side. But sophomore guard Dezz Ramos stepped up for the Miners, scoring eight of her game-leading 10 points in the second half.

With two minutes 43 seconds left and holding on to a 32-30 lead, the Miners challenged Riverton to steal the ball as they extended and spread out the offense.

Riverton had a chance to tie the game in the final minute after getting the ball back but, as was the case throughout the whole game, a big defensive play made all the difference.

"All of our hard work is paying off," Ramos said. "We just really wanted it."

mthach@sltrib.com