(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Bingham's Samantha Holman (30) and Fremont's Mazzie Melaney (15) fight for the rebound. Bingham faces Fremont in the championship game of the 6A High School Girls' Basketball Tournament at SLCC in Taylorsville,Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018.
Taylorsville • Fremont senior guard Abby Broadbent sank two free throws for the final points of her high school career then went to the bench with 35.6 seconds remaining.
Before she got there, though, she was swallowed up by coach Lisa Dalebout, the culmination of a mission accomplished.
Broadbent and Fremont delivered Saturday as they had all season. The Silver Wolves answered every challenge Bingham could muster in a 61-47 victory to clinch the Class 6A girls’ basketball state championship.
“I’m just so overwhelmed. We just worked so hard from Day 1 to now,” said Broadbent, who scored 13 points. “It’s unbelievable. I can’t even explain it. It’s the best feeling. I’ll never forget this moment.”
Freshman Emma Calvert had a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Silver Wolves, who closed the game with a 12-0 run, holding Bingham scoreless over the final 3 minutes, 55 seconds.
Broadbent scored seven of those final 12 points, including a 3-pointer with 2:37 to go that effectively put away the game.
“For her to end on something like that was really kind of poetic and beautiful,” said Dalebout, who also led Fremont to the 5A state title in 2014.
Dalebout said the team’s overall makeup fueled the championship run and was a big reason the Silver Wolves (23-2) closed the season with 20 consecutive victories.
“It was a beautiful little blend, the leadership from the seniors and their ability to step up and kind of calm us, and the contributions from the younger players was awesome,” Dalebout said. “It was a really cool blend. I’ve never had it before.”
Bingham (20-7) got 14 points and 10 rebounds from Maggie McCord, who along with Journey Tupea battled foul trouble. Shanyce Makuei added 11 points for the Miners, who were in their first title game since 2007.
Bingham trailed for most of the game but surged ahead on Ameleya Angilau’s three-point play with 5:56 left in the third quarter. Karlie Valdez converted a three-point play four minutes later to put Fremont back in front for good.
“I’m so happy. I’m just so proud of all my teammates,” Calvert said. “We came out harder, we just came out swinging. We had nothing to lose. Half of us are freshmen.
“We knew we could do this, but that last little bit was where we’re all kind of ‘Let’s finish it out.’ … It’s been an amazing year.”
Calvert’s size in the post caused fits for Bingham, which had seven shots blocked, including four by the freshman, who scored 13 of her points in the second half.
Until Fremont’s closing run, the largest lead of the game had been seven points.
FREMONT 61, BINGHAM 47 <br>• Freshman Emma Calvert scores a game-high 21 points, including 13 in the second half, to lead Fremont to its second state title in five years. <br>• Bingham’s Maggie McCord records a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds despite playing with foul trouble over the final 2½ quarters. <br>• Fremont wins the game at the free-throw line, making 19 of 25 attempts, compared to Bingham’s 8 of 9.