The Bingham High boys basketball team returned to the court this season under second-year coach Jake Schroeder after a 5A state quarterfinal loss to eventual state champion Lone Peak 82-79 in double overtime last March.

This season, the Miners are ranked third in the state with a 14-2 record – including 4-0 in region play – with their two losses by a combined eight points in the Utah Elite 8 tournament early in the year. 

 “We are just starting to play the way I’ve wanted to, now that our football guys are getting used to basketball again,” Schroeder said. “I’m very excited about our last couple of months of the season.”

Bingham began the year with four wins – three by double-digit margins – against Timpanogos (82-57) Dec. 2, Riverton (56-32) Dec. 5, Herriman (65-57) Dec. 9 and Corner Canyon (71-50) Dec. 11, followed by its only losses to Davis (63-58) Dec. 12 and Layton (53-50) Dec. 13.

The team then traveled to Las Vegas to compete in the Tarkanian Classic in mid-December. Bingham defeated Sheldon, Calif. (61-41), Durango, Nev. (76-71) and Lee, Ala. (67-63) to reach the Premier Division championship game against Logan, Utah on Dec. 20. Behind senior forward/center Jared Holman’s 20-point, eight-rebound effort and junior center Yoeli Childs’ 17 points and 13 rebounds, the Miners won 61-54.

Bingham also defeated Salem Hills (67-48) Dec. 30 and Bountiful (79-73) Jan. 2 to close out the preseason. In region play, the squad beat West Jordan (65-46) Jan. 13, third-ranked Copper Hills (56-46) Jan. 16, Jordan (86-55) Jan. 20 and Brighton (57-50) Jan. 23.

Childs leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 17 points and 11 rebounds a game, while Holman averages 13 points and six rebounds a contest. Senior guard Mike Green, senior forward/center Josh Newbold, sophomore guard Lleyton Parker and senior guard Kyle Gearig round out much of the offensive output for Bingham.

Bingham finishes out region play against Jordan, Brighton, Alta (twice), West Jordan and Copper Hills with the 5A state tournament scheduled for Feb. 23-28 at Weber State University.

Also on the team are seniors Jordan Matthews, Cameron Smith and Landon Walbeck; juniors Brady Atkin, Spencer Brooks, Scott Koch, Simote Lokotui, Adam Nelson and Schyler Shoemaker; and sophomores Masay Childs, Tanner Davis and Dason Youngblood.

The sophomore team includes sophomores Nate Applegate, Branden Carlson, Matt Degn, Ammon Driggs, Preston Fowlkes, Braden Harward, Caden Hyde and Kentero Yoshikawa; and freshmen Brayden Cosper, Nick Daynes, KC Lewis, Kobi Matagi, Dalton Miller, Dax Milne, Derek Soffe, Spencer Sorenson and Ryan Wood.

Schroeder is assisted on the coaching staff by Josh Johnson, Jeremy Butterbaugh, Travis Ohrn and Craig Lavin.

“It has been a very exciting year so far,” Schroeder said. “We appreciate all the support from the community at our games. We have a team that plays a brand of basketball that is a lot of fun to watch.”