Maggie McCord's scoring prowess leads Bingham past Westlake

South Jordan • Westlake had little to no answer for Bingham guard Maggie McCord.

The Thunder employed a variety of defenses to no avail, unable to contain the junior Tuesday night. McCord punished the Thunder, tallying 19 of the Miners’ 41 points and accounting for three steals en route to the Miners’ 41-34 victory.

“I just want to be part of the team, and I don’t care about the 19 points,” McCord said. “It’s a team game, and the points have nothing to do with what we accomplished as a team tonight. I need to step up and continue to get better to help us be successful.”

Not that the Thunder didn’t put a scare into the Miners. Every time Bingham threatened to pull away, Westlake’s three-quarters pressure defense led to Miners turnovers and easy buckets on the offensive end. Bingham never led by more than eight points. However, too much McCord and teammate Jaycee Lichtie proved too much to handle.

“Maggie is so valuable because she is such a team player and brings so much positive energy,” Bingham coach Charron Mason said.” She wants everyone to win, and she’s a great player.”

The 3-pointer was a valuable weapon for Westlake, helping the Thunder lead for the majority of the first half. But despite seeing limited playing time in the first two quarters because of foul trouble, McCord returned to lead the Miners on an 11-3 run to close the second quarter and grab an 18-14 lead at halftime.

Westlake was most effective when deploying a 2-3 zone, but that didn’t stop McCord from continuing her offensive prowess. Turnovers plagued the Thunder, and it seemed McCord was always the one leading the charge on the fast break.

“It took working together, and Westlake played their hearts out,” Mason said. “We had to be patient and work together and tried to find open shots when they were available. We were able to move the ball against a very good team.”