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Sandy • While the Alta girls' basketball team played much of the first two quarters Thursday night like there was a 10-second shot clock, it's pretty hard to argue with success.

And the Hawks were very successful, particularly early, against the Bingham Miners. A 14-0 second-period run gave Alta a commanding 26-point lead and helped the Hawks weather a third-quarter drought and eventually come away with a 70-54 victory.

With the win, Alta (6-0) remained unbeaten.

"Yeah, we got a little carried away, we got comfortable," said Hawks coach Izzy Gustafson of several extremely long-range 3-point tries in the early going.

It all worked out for the Hawks as sophomore Kemery Martin scored 18 points while senior post Lexi Walbeck tallied a dozen.

Both teams struggled through much of the first period, and Alta took a 21-5 lead by scoring 10 points in the last two minutes of the period.

Bingham (2-4) didn't tally its first basket from the floor, getting only free throws in the first quarter, until Sierra McNicol scored to start the second quarter.

That was quickly answered by Martin, who initially let fly a 25-foot trey attempt that was off. The ball went right back to her and, undaunted, Martin swished the next attempt — a 3-pointer only slightly closer to the hoop.

Martin's older sister Mariah, who scored 11 points, missed on a shot closer to 30-feet away but managed to deftly tap the rebound to a wide open Walbeck under the basket as Alta went up 27-9 with 6:03 left in the second.

"We're all scorers, so if we have an open look we're looking to score," Mariah Martin said. "It's always like that pretty much."

McNicol, who played at Alta two years ago, was the first Miners' player to really adjust to the Hawks' frenetic style of play. She scored 18 points and led Bingham to a good start to the second half as the Miners trimmed the lead to 13.

But Walbeck at one point blocked three straight McNicol attempts in the lane and Alta never let the lead get into single digits.

"We didn't play very well and Alta's a great team. There's a lot of talent on that team," said Bingham coach Charron Mason, who also got eight points and six rebounds from Journey Tupea.

"We had to regroup at halftime and we came out a little bit stronger," Mason said. "We made some adjustments and hopefully that will help us move forward." —

Alta 70, Bingham 54

R Alta bursts to a 26-point lead late in the second quarter after the Hawks score 14 straight points.

• Bingham, which made only free throws in a five-point opening period, is led by Sierra McNicol's 18 points.

• The Hawks get 18 points and seven rebounds from Kemery Martin as well as a dozen points and four blocked shots by Lexi Walbeck.