SALT LAKE CITY — With 0.7 seconds left in regulation and clinging to a 59-56 lead, Bingham coach Kyle Straatman yelled at his Miners and asked them a question.
"Are you guys having fun?" he asked, to which the team answered in the affirmative.
Less than a second of game-time later — and a few minutes after the clock struck 11 p.m. in real time — American Fork's Ashton Hucks came off a screen, caught an in-bounds pass from Bridger Burnside, and drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the far right wing to force overtime.
Straatman asked the same question — and got the same answer.
Luke West scored 25 of his game-high 32 points after halftime to go with 15 rebounds, and the third-seeded Miners overturned a double-digit second-half deficit to hold off No. 2 American Fork 69-65 in Thursday's 6A boys basketball state semifinal at the Huntsman Center.
"I was just trying to lighten the mood, and I said, 'guess what? I'm still having fun," Straatman recalled. "For the next little bit in this overtime game, we're going to have a blast, go play hard, and do it together.
"From then on, they were talking to each other, we gave them a defense and a set — and that was it."
Parker Snedaker added 15 points for Bingham (18-8), including a pair of free throws to help ice the game in overtime as the Miners used a 10-6 edge in the extra session to advance to play for their first state championship since winning back-to-back in 2016 and 2017.
But for a moment, all of that seemed unlikely.
American Fork star Bryce Mella had 19 points and nine rebounds, including 11 in the first half to go along with Jax Clark's 15 before the break as the Cavemen built up a 34-21 halftime advantage.
Clark finished with 24 points and seven rebounds, and Hucks added 9 points as American Fork led by as much as much as 17 with 6:30 left in the third quarter.
But Bingham didn't quit, out-working the Cavemen 32-26 in the paint, converting 11 turnovers into 12 points, and finding a rhythm from the perimeter. West connected on three 3-pointers, and added a jumper with 15 seconds left that brought the Miners all the way back and up 59-56.
"We were not ourselves in the first half," Straatman admitted. "My guys had never been to this moment, I had never been to this moment; a couple of my assistants have. But we were a little shocked with how you play in a state semifinal.
"It's a completely different thing than a regular-season game. That first half, we kind of got caught off guard, and we got into some people — woke them up a bit. From there, guys fed off each other's energy ... and once we got rolling, we just kept competing and playing as a team."
Top-seeded Westlake stiffarms Lehi for title game bid
Lincoln Norwood had 15 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists as top-seeded Westlake used a 21-13 run through the second quarter to hold off Lehi 60-52 in the other 5A semifinal at the Huntsman Center.
Brody Thompson added 15 points and six rebounds for the Thunder, which got 11 points and four rebounds from Malik Sika to improe to 23-3.
Lehi (11-14) clung to a 13-12 edge after the first quarter before Westlake scored 21 in the second, took a 33-26 advantage at halftime and led by as much as 11 with 4:20 left in the third.
Ashton Shewell erupted for a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Pioneers, and Trevor Anderson scored 10 for 13th-seeded Lehi.
5A state tournament
Bountiful uses 20-point fourth to pull past Pleasant Grove
Lincoln Smith poured in a game-high 31 points to go with six rebounds as Bountiful used a 20-point fourth quarter to pull past Pleasant Grove 52-39 in a 5A state semifinal Thursday at the Huntsman Center.
Davey Howe added 8 points, four rebounds and two assists for the Redhawks (19-7), who clung to a 25-17 halftime edge.
Jaxon Brown scored 15 points to lead the Vikings (15-12), and teammate Brennan Blackett added 12 points, six rebounds and two blocks for Pleasant Grove.
Olympus cruises to 3rd straight title game
BYU football commit Adam Bywater had 14 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Gavin Lowe added 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals as the Titans overwhelmed Highland, 50-24 in the other 5A state semifinal.
Davian Lazarus added 12 points and six rebounds for Olympus (24-2), the two-time defending 5A champions who jumped out to a 21-14 halftime lead and never looked back.
Jordan Oberholtzer led Highland (22-4) with 6 points, 13 rebounds and four steals, and Soren Ries added 5 points, six rebounds and seven blocks for the Rams.
