West Jordan • Even the most cockeyed optimist might have frowned just a little at Copper Hills’ chances early in the fourth quarter of a girls’ basketball game on Friday night.
When Bingham scored the first four points of the last stanza, the visiting Miners held a 13-point lead with 6:58 showing on the clock.
The host Grizzlies, with apparently nothing left to lose, reinserted a starter who had four fouls far in advance of the time a team would normally risk the player fouling out.
But two free throws by Bingham’s Journey Tupea were the last points Bingham would score.
Copper Hills roared back against the Miners, converting multiple turnovers into points, and registering a 24-0 run that lasted until the final buzzer of a 64-53 win.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” said Copper Hills coach Ben Morley when asked how everything turned completely around for his Grizzlies (4-1).
“We are just a team that is very streaky,” he said. “We’ll go stretches where we can’t make layups and then we’ll have stretches where everything seems to go in.”
Bingham (5-1) was led by junior Maggie McCord’s 20 points while sophomore Jaycee Lichte scored 11.
The Miners took the lead with six straight points to start the second quarter. In the third, they withstood a Grizzlies’ run that reduced an 11-point advantage to one.
Starting the fourth with a basket by Lichte and Tupa’s free throws, nothing indicated that another Copper Hills’ comeback was on tap.
But the Grizzlies went ahead when Taela Laufisa hit a fastbreak layup with 4:21 left for a 54-53 lead. At that point, two Miners’ turnovers had led directly to Copper Hills points and a 3-pointer by Breaunna Gillen added fuel to the rapidly-building momentum.
“We were confident. I knew none of us had a doubt,” said Laufisa, who finished with 12 points, five rebounds and a pair of key blocks.
“They have the mindset that they’re never out of it,” Morley said. “They know they can fight their way back in.”
The game matched rivals who, after years of being members of the same region, are no longer league rivals.
“Somehow the intensity and the excitement hasn’t lessened at all,” Morley said.
For Bingham coach Charron Mason, the first loss of the season is a lesson learned.
“I’m so glad that it’s early in the season and that we have time to work and get better,” Mason said.