Miners' championship completes dream season

Despite being ranked in the top-five teams all season, Bingham coach Rand Rasmussen said he never dreamed the Miners championship run would be as dominating as it was.

The team's closest game was a 16-point win over Layton in the quarterfinals.

"I never dreamed it that way," said Rasmussen of the Miners' playoff run. "They bought into the belief that if you win, the accolades will follow."

Part of the dream was that Bingham met Skyline, last year's 5A champion, in the finals. Last season it was the Eagles who sent Bingham home in the semifinals.

"I think they wanted Skyline really bad because they knocked us out," Rasmussen said. "Anyone would have been great, but Skyline was the team they wanted."

All season long the team relied on a core of starters, but none ever played a whole game. Instead, the Miners substituted liberally, usually using 12 players and sometimes rotating them five at a time. In the tournament, the Miners were so dominant that every varsity player — all 18 of them — got into every single game. That includes those with injuries.

"I wanted them to letter," said Rasmussen. And he had the luxury of never going down to the wire in any of the tournament games.

Rasmussen said his team would not have been as successful as it was, however, without the leadership of its four senior captains — Jessica Palmer, point guard; Jessica Wilcock, forward; Megan Marks, center; and Stephanie Sampson, guard.

"We knew from the beginning of the season that this team was special," said Marks, who will take her skills to BYU next year. "We just kept moving forward with our goal in focus."

Despite lower stats for the starters who spent less time on the floor because of Rasmussen's system, as well as the Miners' dominance, Marks said she wouldn't want it any other way.

"It's not frustrating at all," she said. "I love that everybody scores eight or 10 points. Other teams can't stop just one or two of us. There are 18 of us that can play."

Adds Sampson, "I'd much rather have everybody score than me score 30."

In addition to those four seniors, the Miners also lose Lexe Jacobs, Cami Hymas and Hailey McKee to graduation. And while those are some big shoes to fill, the younger players have the talent and the experience to make the Miners a contender for another region title and state title next season.