Last year’s Bingham girls basketball team ended up sharing the Region 3 title with crosstown rival Herriman. But this season, the Miners don’t seem to want to share anything with anyone. 

When Brighton came into The Pit on Thursday, Dec. 1, the Miners chipped inside the paint at their visitors to the point that one of Brighton’s players was whistled for a technical in the third quarter for slamming the ball into the floor in frustration. Junior Mata Peaua sank her free throws and the Miners dug in for a 62-56 win. 

Bingham [2-0] started the season Tuesday, Nov. 29 with a convincing 65-54 win at American Fork. 

“The team is looking good after week 1 with 2 wins to start the season,” said head coach Skyler Beard, who is heading into his third season in charge of the Bingham women team. 

“We have a great core returning and have added some very talented players who have come into the program,” said Beard of Peaua, one of his new additions. 

Peaua is leading the Miners in scoring in the two games they’ve played, averaging 13 points per game. Junior Brianna Badonie [13 ppg] is the team’s sharpshooter with four three-point shots and fellow junior Uma Tukuafu [12 ppg] has been a force inside for Bingham. 

Last year, when the Miners got to the 6A state tournament they surprised some people, and then made a run all the way to the 6A quarterfinals. 

For a Miners team that lost five of the players that made that surprising run toward the 6A quarterfinals, they’ll be relying on that trio of juniors along with seniors Hallie Bayles and Sarah Broederlow at the guard positions and two-sport volleyball athlete, junior Vani Key-Powell. 

Other players to watch that played in all 25 games last year on that 17-9 Bingham team include senior Ane Henderson and junior Sophie Curtis. For Beard, his goal is to make sure the Miners get better, each and every day. 

“We're looking to stack days and get better each day.  Goal is to continue to improve and compete every day,” Beard said. 

Bingham continued undefeated in preseason play at press time with a 58-34 win at Layton on Dec. 6, and then was at The Pit for games on Dec. 9 [58-53 overtime victory over Syracuse] and Dec. 13 [59-42 win over Skyline].