This just in: Brianna Badonie is bad. Bad as in very good. As in, this senior that Bingham head coach Skyler Beard has might be the baddest [best] player of the bunch, but that might be up for debate. 

“We have a young but talented group and some good senior leaders,” said Coach Beard of his Miners’ girls basketball squad without naming one particular player. “We are excited to see what this team does as they are bought in and playing for each other.”  

The better news for Bingham is that in addition to the two-year starter Badonie, the Miners have several other senior team captains still in the mix. Uma Tukuafu and Peyton Gough are back for a Bingham bunch that has four seniors, seven juniors and a handful of sophomores and freshmen. 

But this is also the age of name, image and likeness. And with that comes the possibility that perhaps a student-athlete will decide to head for greener pastures. 

Such was the case with senior Mak Horsley, who is new to Bingham from Mountain Ridge but is already part of the senior leadership team that Beard mentioned. 

With Mak came perhaps the biggest transfer this year in girls high school basketball in Utah: Addy Horsley. 

Addy, a junior, was a 6A first-team All-State selection last year at nearby Mountain Ridge. And Mak wasn’t too shabby herself at the same Herriman school. 

Together with those new additions, this Miners team cruised to an 18-point victory a long way from home at Timpview, 69-51. 

Brianna Badonie’s game-high 26 points was impressive for a season opener. And Badonie’s stat line was almost mind-boggling: six made three-point shots, three steals and two rebounds. 

But in order to score the basketball like that, you have to have help. That’s what the Horsley’s provided. Mak added 11 points, three threes, two assists, and a steal. 

And then there was Addy’s stat line. 

10 points, seven assists and seven steals. Yes, you just read that right: a 10-7-7, which is usually reserved for lanky wings who can get up and down the floor and collect boards. 

But, seven steals? Addy’s only 5-foot-5 and a point guard, to boot. The state record for steals in one game is 18. But if you’d have to pick anyone who could threaten that mark by the end of this season, it’s Addy. 

Do the math here after such a thumping and the Miners are on track to win a lot this season and perhaps even collect their first state title since 2020. 

When you read that Badonie was named to the 6A third-team last year by comparison, you could make that assumption. 

As for other contributors, Lena Casperson scored seven points and had four rebounds for Bingham, who never trailed and led 33-22 at the half at Timpview. Raylynn Richardson contributed 6-and-4 for the Miners, who played on the road again Tuesday, Nov. 21 at Westlake. 

“We were very pleased with [the win over Timpview] and the way the girls played,” Beard said. “We know we have areas to improve in and we are working to get better each and every day.”   

Bingham [1-0] will then welcome the senior leaders, the Horsleys, and the rest of the Miners back to The Pit for their first home game on Nov. 28 [American Fork]. 

Two nights later on Nov. 30 they’ll entertain Skyridge, the same team that eliminated Badonie and the Miners last year in the 6A second round. 

Layton will invade The Pit on Dec. 5—then the Miners will hit the road for games at Lehi [Dec. 6] and at Brighton [Dec. 12] before heading for the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas over Christmas break. 

For Beard, this is always going to be a team effort regardless of who’s on the court. 

“They are dedicated to our core values and pillars of Attitude, Commitment, and Team,” Beard said. “We’re excited to represent Bingham and the South Jordan Community and give our best effort every time we step on the court.”

Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the last time Bingham won a state championship.