By Rich Winter

| The Salt Lake Tribune

Bingham’s Conner Williams gets healthy

Connor Williams, the 6-foot-4 senior, has played sparingly this year as a result of a fractured ankle, but he’s come on as of late, averaging 18 points per game over the Miners’ last three. Williams had 18 points in the Miners’ 67-41 loss at American Fork, and no matter the result of Tuesday’s road game, Bingham is in the 5A playoffs. Region 4 draws in against Region 2, so the Miners will either play Viewmont or Hunter.

	Join the Discussion
	Post a Comment

Waddoups leads Am. Fork over Bingham

Austin Waddoups piled up four 3-pointers and 20 points as the Cavemen ran past Bingham, 67-41. American Fork closed out the regular season at Pleasant Grove, and if the Cavemen end up in a tie with Lone Peak for the Region 4 title, the coin toss to determine seedings could be interesting. Lose the flip and you’re the No. 2 seed with a tough quarterfinal and a likely matchup with West Jordan in the semis, and then the title game. Waddoups, Zac Hunter and Marcel Davis have taken it to the next level, and ultimately if anyone could come through murderers row, the Cavemen could. They could survive that stretch.

Pleasant Grove’s tough trip concludes

Pleasant Grove won the region opener against Bingham on Jan. 13 and hasn’t tasted victory since. The offensive woes continued down the stretch as the Vikings put up just 47, while giving up 61 to Riverton. Before the season, the team’s coaches talked about basketball being cyclical. While the Vikings didn’t have a great season, they have a good nucleus to start the year, and future stars could emerge.

Riverton hoping to be a first-round menace

On Jan. 24, the pulse of the Riverton basketball team was barely distinguishable with not a single region win on the year. The Silverwolves broke through against Pleasant Grove on Jan. 27. Riverton was playing its best basketball of the season with wins over Bingham and another over Pleasant Grove, but everything relied on the home game with Lehi on Tuesday. If the Silverwolves are in the 5A field, they could be a tough out. Stephen Holm and D. McCleary are solid, and Riverton’s bigs are finally playing up to their potential.

Lone Peak long on talent, experience

Lone Peak could be poised to leave its mark on the Beehive state for a long time. It’s almost a foregone conclusion the Knights will win next year, but 2012 is a different story. West Jordan and American Fork appear to be at or near Lone Peak’s level. No matter what part of the bracket they get sent to, last year’s championship experience should count for something. If it’s a date with West Jordan in the semifinals, you had better arrive early — really early. Three titles in a row would put this group in rarefied air.

West Jordan takes care of business

At the beginning of Region 3 play, many basketball prognosticators, myself included, thought the 5A tournament might be challenging because the Jags wouldn’t have had a close game in over a month. A few of their games were lopsided, but Brighton handed this group its only region loss and Copper Hills made West Jordan struggle in both meetings. With three offensive dynamos in Jordan Loveridge, Jaden Jackson and Jordan Pryor, this team will score with anybody. As a team, West Jordan made over 140 3-pointers, an asset that forced defenses to play Loveridge honestly.