At the time the Bingham Miners won the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas a little more than a month ago, things were looking up for them. 

It was a good thing for the Miners, considering there was an early exit at the last state tournament. 

Since that Vegas tournament, however, the team has been without the services of leading scorer Luke West. 

And, Bingham [16-6, 6-3 Region 2] has had a seesaw region campaign in its last 10 games. 

The good news is that the Miners are figuring out how to play without West. Senior guard Brayden Ericson has emerged as an option after spending most of the preseason in a secondary role. 

Ericson’s 17 points were a team-high in helping the Miners win at Mountain Ridge 71-68 in overtime Tuesday Feb. 11, extending Bingham’s win streak to two, several days after it registered a comprehensive 73-55 thumping of Copper Hills on Friday Feb. 7. 

On Tuesday Feb. 4, Ericson dumped in 21 points on three triples, another team-high, and nearly willed the Miners to victory at a two-loss Herriman squad, but Bingham fell in OT by the score of 69-65.

That’s been the story of the regular season for the Miners; they swept the season series with rivals Riverton and Copper Hills but couldn’t find a way to defeat Herriman. On the flip side, Bingham split games against Mountain Ridge and defeated Corner Canyon with one game left to play on Valentine’s Day against the Chargers. 

With that win against Corner Canyon on Friday Feb. 14, the Miners would still finish second in Region 2 at 7-3, giving them a shot of momentum and a three-game winning streak going into the 6A state tournament. 

Ericson hasn’t done all the work by himself, though. 

Despite the loss of Luke West, Bingham is good enough on paper to win more than half of its games in region play. Junior guard Parker Snedaker has done his level best to fill the void left in the absence of West and averages about 12 points per game, having played in all 22 games for the Miners. 

Senior guard Jason Peterson is averaging 10 points per game and a team-high two assists—another area the Miners are filling in. Senior wing Ayden Larsen is scoring the ball as well at a nine point per game clip, and junior center Lucas Neidig is averaging eight points, five rebounds and one assist. 

All told, Bingham has eight guys who average at least one assist per game, and have another six guys ranging from Denzel Peoples, Dawson Allen and Jace Bagley who average four, three and two points per contest, all the way down the roster to three more guys in Owen Simpson, Cade Langford and Jake Mabey who each average one point. 

The Miners also have other young men such as Derek and Brady Peterson and Trevor Pack who rarely play but provide sparks off the bench when they do. Several other guys like Logan Goncalves, Dawson Gilbert and Owen Bagley are capable of coming in and giving a minute or two as well. 

When there are upward of 18 guys who can come in and provide energy at any given moment, it’s no wonder the Miners have found ways to succeed without Luke West. 

Editor’s note: After press deadline, the Miners earned the No. 5 seed for the state tournament where they reached the quarterfinals before falling to region foe Corner Canyon. λ