Layton doubles up to defeat No. 2-ranked Bingham in a thriller

LAYTON -- When a coach has a great player like Ashley McFarland, sometimes he wishes he could clone her.

Mother Nature nearly granted that wish for Layton coach Rob Reisbeck when Sheila Adams showed up at a Layton High girls basketball tryout last year as a freshman.

"Doesn't she look like me?" asks senior McFarland who, along with the sophomore guard she affectionately refers to as "Mini Me," helped the Lancers win a 56-53 thriller against second-ranked Bingham Saturday afternoon. "She's awesome."

The two players team up in softball as well as basketball, all of which contributes to some phenomenal chemistry. Not only do the two both have blonde hair that they wear the same and blue eyes, but they also can play some serious basketball.

"She's like my big sister," said Adams, who scored a team-high 20 points. "Anything she tells me to do, I'll do. I'm used to catching (her scorching passes) because of softball. We've got that team thing going on."

Do they ever.

The duo knocked down eight 3-pointers as they helped the fourth- ranked Lancers earn the come-from-behind win and stay the only unbeaten team in 5A. The players said they weren't nervous about their win streak, which including last year's 24-0 finish is now 32- 0, just beating a team they love to play.

"It's always such a good game," said McFarland, who grabbed two key rebounds in the final seconds and finished with 19 points. "It was so much fun. I love these kinds of games. We don't care about the streak. A lot of people don't think we can do it, but we have a whole team that knows we can."

Coach Reisbeck, who took over the program this fall when long- time head coach Van Price moved to the boys program, said they really never even discuss their record when they prepare for a game.

"I just keep telling them we have to focus on the next opponent," he said. "We don't really even talk about the streak. This is a whole new year. We played eight pre-season games, and happened to win eight games. That hopefully prepared us for region. That's why we play teams like Bingham in the pre-season."

The two teams met last season on the same day in South Jordan and, just like this year, Layton won to remain the only undefeated 5A team. The Lancers went on to win the 5A title against none other than Bingham. Both teams have young, talented squads and while the Lancers dominated the perimeter game, Bingham owned the paint until the game's final 10 seconds.

That's when the Lancers, nursing a 1-point lead, missed the front end of three 1-and-1 foul shots and managed to get every single rebound. McFarland managed to knock down two freethrows to give the team a 56-53 lead. Layton has struggled all season with free throws, according to Reisbeck, but their effort in every other area kept the game within their grasp.

"These kids just don't quit," he said. "They have that never die attitude. I'm very proud of how they played today. I knew coming in this was going to be a great game. I have so much respect for Rand (Rasmussen) and his program. You play a team like this for a reason, and I don't think there's a better team out there than Bingham. They're very talented."

There were a few surprises, even though Reisbeck has already watched Bingham play a couple of times this season -- like Erika Newbold. The 6-foot sophomore was almost unstoppable down low and scored a game-high 25 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds. Bingham's other post, Megan Marks, also played well, especially the second half with 18 points and eight rebounds.

"I think Newbold is probably the most improved player in 5A," Reisbeck said. "She's a great player."

Bingham coach Rand Rasmussen said he likes playing Layton for the same reason the Lancers want to take on the Miners.

"They showed us some things we need to work on to become a little bit better," he said. "I told everybody I didn't think we should be ranked . . . It would be better if we'd played that close and won, but we'll see. It was a good game."

Turnovers contributed to some of the momentum shift and helped the Lancers stay in the close game despite shooting 37 percent from the foul line. The Lancers finished with eight turnovers, while Bingham had 17 turnovers.

E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com

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