Miners down Bengals in OT

SOUTH JORDAN — The last time the Bingham Miners and Brighton Bengals girls basketball teams met, sophomore guard Cami Hymas buckled under pressure, throwing the ball away with five seconds left in the game.

"She was devastated," said Bingham coach Rand Rasmussen of the team's 41-40 loss several weeks ago. "But I told her, 'Something good will come out of this. You're a young kid; you'll learn something.'"

Something so good came out of it, the coach was jumping up and down like one of the Miner cheerleaders in the rematch Tuesday at Bingham. With two seconds left in regulation, Hymas found herself at the foul line with a chance to send the game into overtime.

This time, she calmly delivered two of the game's biggest points, and then the Miners went on to win the game in overtime, 48-41.

"Everyone is always nervous," said Hymas, who didn't expound much on the experience. Instead, she just grinned as teammates and friends congratulated her over and over. "A win is always good. I'm excited for Friday."

Rasmussen was pleased with the win, which came after the team fell behind 8-0 in the first three minutes of the game. But he told his team they had just one night to savor beating the defending 5A champs.

"I told them to enjoy it tonight, but I didn't want to see any signs of it tomorrow, or I'd send them home," he said. That's because, like Hymas, he's looking forward to Friday night's matchup against West Jordan. The Jaguars had been on a roll themselves until losing Tuesday to Alta. But then, that's the way Region 2 has been all season. The region's No. 1 seed could end up with two or three region losses.

Rasmussen downplayed the competitiveness of Region 2, pointing out that 5A's No. 1 team plays in Region 1, and the No. 2 team is in Region 3.

"I think we're all tough," he said. "I think Layton's probably a cut above, but just a cut."

Brighton came out on fire, while the Miners seemed a bit tentative in the first half. Bengal guard Vanessa Hutson was spectacular, making shots from angles defenders hadn't even considered taking away. She hit shots from the outside and then drove the lane, making layups that seemed to defy gravity.

"We tried to take everything away we could, but you can't," Rasmussen said. "She's so good."

Hutson finished with 20 points, but the difference may have been that Bingham center Megan Marks held Marissa Vandersteen to just seven points.