This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
With plenty of young, good players on the roster this season, the Bingham girls basketball team has plenty to look forward to in the future.
Of course, the trouble is the Miners' opponent on Tuesday was also on the young side, and it's Alta that might prove to be a continuing thorn in the side of Bingham.
Although the host Hawks never held a lead in regulation, Alta (9-5) eventually caught the previously unbeaten Miners and took a 59-54 overtime victory over Bingham in the Region 3-5A opener for both squads.
"We started strong in the third quarter and we just came together for the win," said Alta sophomore Sierra McNicol, who led the Hawks with 13 points. "It just came down to who wanted it more at the end."
Times were tough early in the game for Alta, which had difficulty handling Bingham's quick guards and even more with the Miners' tall post players, junior Leya Harvey and senior Britta Gotberg.
But that's when McNicol helped keep the Hawks in the contest. McNicol would score the only four points of the first quarter for Alta and, after her team fell behind by as many as 14 points, she would complete the comeback by scoring with 33 seconds left to tie the game at 50.
"I'm used to playing against older girls and bigger girls," McNicol said. "Leya is really physical. She's really hard to guard, but we have really good posts who know how to defend."
In the overtime period, Alta scored the first two baskets on jumpers from Kacey Blackner and Rachael McDonald. Bingham (10-1) would twice close the gap to two points before Hawks sophomore guard Mariah Martin hit three free throws in the last 30 seconds of overtime.
"Bingham was good last year and they're great this year. There's a reason they have such a strong record," said Alta coach Sean Yeager, who also got 12 points from Brandy Bookout and nine apiece from McDonald, Blackner and Elsa Ferre. "We were lucky today. The way Bingham came out today, I didn't feel so good."
Sophomore Jade Sine led the Miners with 13 points while Harvey and Gotber each contributed with 11. Junior guard Madison Loftus added nine for the visitors.
A fastbreak bucket from Sine midway through the third quarter gave Bingham a 36-22 lead before Alta started chipping away.
"We played a really good team and they beat us," Miners coach Charron Mason said. "We're just trying to develop good, well-rounded basketball players. But Alta had better players and that's just how it is sometimes."