Miners eke out win against Silverwolves

RIVERTON — It was intense, energetic, entertaining and had both crowds standing up cheering and/or yelling — and that's just to describe the male drill team halftime show at the Bingham-Riverton basketball showdown.

The actual game was so wild it made that crazy act look mild — especially the frenetic fourth quarter during which Bingham overcame a 10-point deficit to pull off a 60-58 victory that was both sensational and stunning.

Tyler Strong scored the winning basket with a cutting drive for an easy layup — after a nice pass from Justin Watson — with three seconds left.

"Oh, wow," said Bingham

guard Sloan Baker, who led all scorers with 23 points and was a willing decoy on that final play.

"We just refused to lose there at the end," he added. "We wanted to secure that first place in region."

Goal achieved.

And how.

Trailing 41-31 after three quarters, Bingham rallied past the rival Silverwolves thanks to a stifling full-court press defense and an offensive explosion. The fourth-ranked Miners outscored fifth-ranked Riverton 29-17 in the final eight minutes to clinch the Region 3 championship.

Bingham improved to 15-5 overall and 9-0 in league play, while the Silverwolves dropped to 17-3 and 7-2, with both of their region losses coming from the Miners.

Baker scored 11 in the fourth, nine coming from behind the arch. He swished two free throws with 51.7 seconds remaining to tie it. The Miners then purposely fouled Riverton reserve Mike Ashcraft, who had just come in for the fouled-out Eric Dearden. He missed both attempts from the foul line, giving Bingham plenty of time to try for the unlikely win.

Watson had the ball at the top of the key and connected with Strong, who capped his nine-point fourth quarter with the winning bucket. He finished with 11 points.

"We thought they were keying on me, and they left the other player open," Baker said. He added that it was fine with him "as long as we get the win."

"I just wanted it to go in. It was called for me," Strong added. "That was intense."

Watson said the coaches called for a "slip play," which aptly describes how Strong slipped through the Silverwolves' defense and how the game slipped away from Riverton.