Olympus Beats Bingham

High school basketball in Utah is in full swing and, on Dec. 15, I attended a game between top-ranked Bingham and Olympus.

I was considering the West Jordan at Brighton contest, but I received word that the Deseret News would be there. Since part of my goal is to cover games the other media doesn't, I chose Oly-Bingham because I thought it would be a great matchup.

It was. Nicholas Paulos scored 22 points, and Paulos, Ben Sonntag and Joe Bourne hit some key free throws down the stretch as the Titans held off Bingham 68-63 in a non-region game.

It was Bingham's first loss. The game had a great high-school atmosphere. Oly led for most of it, but Bingham made a nice rally to make it close at the end. Certainly Bingham wasn't happy to lose, but the Miners played hard and showed a lot of grit.

To read my game story, click here, and then scroll to the game.

Afterward, I found Bingham coach Mark Dubach and asked to interview him. Dubach is a volatile coach during the game, but was very nice afterward. However, he declined to be interviwed. He said, "I only talk after wins."

I guess we can add that little eccentricity to our knowledge of Dubach. I had spoken to him earlier in the day, and he seemed like a nice guy. There's a lot more to learn about him, so now I know.

I found Olympus coach Matt Barnes, and he always likes to talk to the media. Barnes said he and Dubach attended Olympus High together back in the mid-1980s. Barnes was the school's basketball star (judging from all the school records he owns) and he said Dubach was the school's baseball phenom.

Barnes talked about his team. He said Paulos is still recovering from mononucleosis, but is getting into form on the basketball court. Paulos had a great game, nailing 6-6 free throws (the fans call him "automatic") and a couple of three-pointers. He's a good guy to have the ball near the end of the game.

Will Watkins sported a cut near is right eye in practice Monday. The cut was covered with a bandage during the game, but reopened when he got hit while battle Shad Sommerville for a rebound. He had to leave the game with a trainer, but returned shortly afterward.

What makes Olympus so impressive is they four players who are 6-6, one 6-5 and three 6-4 guys. And they can all play.

If Oly could get Bourne to shoot a little better (2-6 on free throws tonight), they would be a state title contender.

Here are a few other things I noticed:

* - Bingham's MVP was Sommerville. The guy is dynamite. He had 23 points, and seemed to score whenever Bingham needed it. If I had to pick one guy from Bingham's lineup for my team, he would be my choice.
* - Ben Clifford is good, too. He's 6-8, and had a nice game with 19 points and seven rebounds, even though he was in foul trouble. He also seems to be a man of many talents. Late in the game, Bingham set up a play for Clifford to shoot a three-pointer. It was a nice shot, but missed. Still, the fact that the play was set up for him says something.
* - Late in the game, when Clifford had four fouls, Oly tried to get him to commit another. Several Bingham players came to his aid, and that was impressive, even to Oly fans.
* - I was also impressed with Oly's Andrew Pellatt. He's the 6-5 guy who was often matchup against Clifford. Pellatt didn't show me much against Box Elder, but he was awesome against Bingham. He had six points and six rebounds, and made several big plays. He's also another example of how deep Olympus seems to be.
* - Lastly, Bingham's three top players (Sommerville, Nate Girsberger and Clifford) accounted for 58 of Bingham's 63 points. The Miners need more help from guys like Ty Hannay, Michael Arnell, Spencer Brown, Logan Parker, etc... If Bingham is going to win the 5A state title, at least one other guy has to step up.