Miners dug their way out of pit to take title

The Bingham boys basketball team ended the 2005-06 season where it began — atop Class 5A. Despite the title, however, it was hardly a wire-to-wire fairy-tale season for the Miners.

Along the way to the school's first state championship since 1990, Bingham suffered through some unexpected losses, and heading into Region 3 play the Miners were a mediocre 6-5. For some teams, that would have been a good preseason record, but not for a team with such high expectations.

Ironically, that trying preseason may have helped lift Bingham to a 61-59 victory over rival Riverton in the 5A championship two weeks ago.

Heading into Bingham's region opener on Jan. 13 against Copper Hills, Bingham coach Mark Dubach wasn't happy with his team's attitude and effort and decided to mix things up. Against Copper Hills, he split playing time almost equally between his starting five and his five reserves.

Much to his surprise, they actually liked it. Bingham rolled past the Grizzlies 83-38, so Dubach stuck with the hockey-like substitutions the rest of the way.

Even though Bingham might've still won the Region 3 title without Dubach playing over 10 guys every game, it seemed to pay off in the state tournament.

During their four state tournament victories over Viewmont, American Fork, Davis and Riverton, the Miners had a different player lead them in scoring each game.

That depth had its biggest impact in the semifinals. With point guard Brett Sommerville and big man Justin Watson almost nonexistent offensively against Davis, two unsung heroes saved the day for Bingham. Tyler Strong led the way with 15 points, while David Johnson also added 10.

Would those 25 points have been possible if Strong and Johnson hadn't gained so much experience during the regular season? Dubach doubts it.

"We were 10-deep on purpose," said Dubach. "We wanted to make sure we weren't scared to play anyone in the tournament."

In the championship game, Bingham's true stars capitalized on the opportunity of a lifetime. Down by as many as 12 against a Riverton team it beat twice in the regular season, Sommerville (13 points), Watson (18 points) and Sloan Baker (11 points) dominated the second half as the Miners ultimately hung on.

For his fantastic season in which he averaged 11 points, six rebounds and five assists, Sommerville was named the Deseret Morning News 5A MVP. Baker was named a 5A first-teamer, while Watson garnered second-team honors.