Bingham basketball: Ashton Henderson profile

In mid-March, I interviewed Ashton Henderson, a member of the Bingham (Utah) girls basketball team. She was a very good interview. In some ways, she reminded me of myself. She grew up a Bingham fan, and was thrilled to eventually play basketball there. Here's the article that will appear in this year's Bingham basketball yearbook.

Ashton
Henderson:

By Bruce Smith
Matchup

Ashton Henderson grew up a Bingham basketball fan. For a long time, it was her goal to play for coach Rand Rasmussen and the Miners. When she put on the uniform – white or dark – it was a dream.

This year, she became a team captain and she welcomed the responsibility that came with it. She had “game,” and she wanted to show it.

“When you’re little, you idolize the girls,” she said. “Rand was always scary, but you looked up to him. I always looked forward to wearing the warm-ups and playing the part.”

Henderson played sparingly on varsity as a freshman, but was frequently on the court last year. This season, she ended up averaging 6.1 points per game and 2.6 rebounds. Like most Bingham guards, she was all over the court.

Henderson’s high game was a 14-point effort in Bingham’s 68-52 win over Alta, one of its most-impressive victories of the season. It was a great night for her and the team. Surprisingly, it didn’t rank among her best memories of the season.

“My best memories are sleepovers and team dinners,” she said.

It was a long season and, as a captain, there were many issues that had to be dealt with off the court. Then, just when the Miners seemed to have those issues solved, Summer Yack was injured and lost for the season.

Henderson said the team had made a lot of progress prior to that event, especially with camaraderie and team chemistry. When Yack was injured, the team’s momentum immediately stopped and it was the coach – and the captain’s – jobs to try to revive it.

“I was a defensive player, but after Summer got hurt coach told me that I had to score more,” Henderson said. “Summer led us, but we had to step up and help out more. We were all captains but we looked up to her.”

Yack was injured in Bingham’s 54-39 loss at American Fork. The team had a week off until its next game, but Henderson was she couldn’t wait to deal with the situation. AF dominated the game after Yack went to the bench and, at the time, all the players were concerned the Miners wouldn’t even make the postseason.

“At American Fork, we had a long talk in the locker room,” Henderson recalled. “We knew we were at a turning point and had to keep fighting.”

Henderson was one of the biggest fighters. In Bingham’s next game – at home against nemesis Pleasant Grove – she nearly matched her season high. She had 12 points, Jilian Powell 11 and Ana Kaili 10 in a 54-34 victory.

“We had to give it all we had,” she said. “They had knocked us out (of the 5A state tournament) three straight years. We weren’t going to let it happen again.”

A week later, she scored 11 points at Riverton. Her scoring dropped off after that, but others caught on. Bingham did make the tourney and others caught on. Shelby Richards, for example, had 23 in Bingham’s tournament win over Taylorsville.

For Henderson, the story of her junior year was “ask her to do something, and she would do it.” It started with the captaincy, but it also occurred on the court. One of her favorite recollections, she said, was the Cyprus game, when she was asked to guard the Pirates’ 6-foot-3 Lori Parkinson.

“She was a lot bigger than me,” she said, smiling. “But I think she had two points in the first half and the coach took me out in the third quarter. It was a great feeling.”

It might make Henderson feel better to know that Parkinson, who averaged 14.6 ppg and 15.6 rebounds and made the 4A all-state teams, was actually scoreless at halftime. Bingham handed the Pirates their only loss of the regular season, 59-48.

The Miners, of course, went on to finish 15-8. By Bingham standards, that might be a subpar year. But the team battled through adversity, injuries (not just Yack, but Anna Lokotui and Nicole Osborne), made state and advanced to the quarterfinals.

Henderson believes more good things are ahead, and this year will just make them stronger.