SALT LAKE CITY — By the end of the season, Bingham girls basketball was turning a weakness into a strength.
Stacia Peoples scored 14 points, and Veanna Pau'u added 10 points and six rebounds as Bingham pulled away for a 49-33 win over Lone Peak to lift the Miners to their first 6A title in six years Friday at the Huntsman Center.
Brizzy Cottle had 9 points, three rebounds and two assists for the Miners, who forced just five turnovers but turned them into 7 points while overpowering the Knights 32-8 in the paint in Bingham's first championship since winning back-to-back in 2019 and 2020.
"You know what, it's about time that we capitalize on turnovers; usually teams capitalize on our turnovers," Bingham coach Hector Marquez said. "I just think we grew up. We were able to be a little bit more patient, and find the open players. It worked, and we were able to get the dub."
But mostly, it was about defense.
Bingham held Lone Peak to 8-of-51 shooting, including 4-of-25 from 3-point range and capitalized used its transition play to feed the post.
"We knew that this was going to be a defense game," Peoples said. "Rebounding was our key to stopping them, and we did it. It worked out for us."
Talk about peaking at the right time.
The Miners (19-8) were the inexperienced team against the four-time defending state champions who stunned top-seeded Westlake in Thursday's semifinals. Bingham was just 9-3 in the Thunder's Region 2 with a run that included losses in three of four games to Westlake, Cedar Valley and Mountain Ridge in mid-January.
The Bingham Miners are the Queens of 6A for the first time since 2020!
— KSL Sports Rewind (@KSLSportsRewind) February 28, 2026
The Lady Miners knock off the 4-time defending champions with an absolutely incredible defensive performance!@kslsports@TABBank@dane_stewart@natethatcher15@MarquezHeck@PeoplesStaciapic.twitter.com/r0MzmpnHwn
But by end of the season, the sixth-seeded Miners were clicking at the right time, holding Lone Peak to 16% shooting and adding a 35-33 edge on the glass.
"We came in as a six-seed," Pau'u said, "and it's crazy how we made it to the state championship. But we believed, and I think that's what brought us here."
The Miners ended the first quarter on a 5-0 run to create separation, and Brizzy Cottle stretched the lead to 23-15 late in the shot clock of the final minute of the first half.
Cottle had 8 points, three rebounds and two assists by halftime, keeping Bingham in front before Peoples and Vau'u combined to score 14 points in the second half to pull away.
"Brizzy does a great job of keeping our rhythm," Pau'u said. "She's one of our starters for a reason, and she gets really good rim runs and keeping our energy up."
Freshman Payton Warner had a game-high 16 points to lead Lone Peak (16-11), and sister Charli Warner added 6 points.
But Bingham closed out on the shooters late, and used a 24-0 run of its own between the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter to pull away for good.
"They have a ton of girls who have scored 20 or more 3-pointers, so we knew we had to cover all of them," Marquez noted. "There is a learning curve once you tip off, and they were able to come through.
"I tried not to look at the score. But we did a great job defensively."
Bingham opened the playoffs over Skyridge and Cedar Valley before flexing with consecutive double-digit victories including a 44-34 win over Syracuse in Thursday's semifinals.
"This team is like a family," Peoples said. "We're all family, we have each others' backs, we love each other and we're just proud to be with people we love every day."
Other girls basketball championships:
- 5A girls basketball: Pleasant Grove's wily point guard comes up big in 1st championship
- 4A girls basketball: Green Canyon captures first state title with thrilling win over Dixie
- 3A girls basketball: Layton Christian uses 3rd-quarter rally for 1st title
- 2A girls basketball: Top-seeded Kanab caps redemption tour with 4th title in 5 years
