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Copper Hills leans on its defense to take down Bingham

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Copper Hills' Jake Jensen (15) had 6 points in the first half. Copper Hills faces Bingham in the 6A High School Boys' Basketball Tournament opening game at Weber State University’s Dee Events Center in Ogden, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Copper Hills' Jake Jensen (15) had 6 points in the first half. Copper Hills faces Bingham in the 6A High School Boys' Basketball Tournament opening game at Weber State University’s Dee Events Center in Ogden, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018.

Ogden • Copper Hills coach Andrew Blanchard knew he needed a better defensive effort against Bingham this time.

And that’s what he got Tuesday.

The Grizzlies opened the Class 6A boys’ basketball state tournament with a 61-54 win over the Miners to advance to the state quarterfinals.

Blanchard’s emphasis on defense sprang from his team’s 11-point setback at the beginning of January.

“We defended a little bit better this time around,” Blanchard said. “And we didn’t let them just get wide-open looks. And from the first quarter, it looked like they were going to do what they did before except we met the challenge.”

The Grizzlies got a big lift from sophomore Stone Hutchings, who drained a pair of 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes to help Copper Hills take a 14-13 lead into the second period. Hutchings finished with nine points in the opening half and 11 for the game.

“We had a sophomore in Stone Hutchings that carried us in that first quarter,” Blanchard said. “So it helped us not to let them run away with it like they did in the first meeting.”

The Grizzlies got contributions from others, including 6-foot-7 junior post Trevon Allfrey.

Allfrey finished with 11 points and six rebounds, and he had the Miners in foul trouble throughout the contest.

“Everyone just hit shots,” Allfrey said. “We’ve been working on it in practice the last few weeks. We executed and did what we were supposed to.”

The Miners, who trailed 26-21 at intermission, pulled to within 32-29 late in the third period. However, Copper Hills closed out the period with baskets from Kylan Shorts, Bryan Holgate and Tyler Bush to push the lead back to 38-29 entering the fourth period.

“We got the ball where it needed to be go,” Blanchard said about the late third-quarter run. “And we saw some mismatches, and they had some foul trouble, so we got it inside.”

Bingham closed to within 48-44 with three minutes to play, but Copper Hills held off the Miners with its free throw shooting. The Grizzlies hit 14 of 17 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. Bush and Shorts combined to hit 7 of 8 from the line in the final period.

“They wouldn’t let us play a lot,” Allfrey said. “Which is kind of frustrating sometimes, but we were smart enough and strong enough to get through it.”

Copper Hills advanced to play Fremont in Thursday’s state quarterfinal.

“We just got to keep playing our game,” Allfrey said. “And don’t do anything we don’t do.”

Dalton Miller paced Bingham with 13 points.

COPPER HILLS 61, BINGHAM 54 <br>• Copper Hills shoots 54.8 percent from the field in the win. <br>• Trevon Allfrey and Stone Hutchings pace the Grizzlies with 11 points apiece. <br>• Dalton Miller scores 13 points to lead Bingham.

By Mark Jones