Pleasant Grove, playing in its first state tournament game in more than five years, couldn’t keep up with a hot-shooting Bingham team, falling 51-29 Tuesday night at the McKay Events Center in the first round of the 5A tournament.

The Vikings stuck with the Region 3 champs through the first quarter, ending the period trailing by only three, 14-11. But Sarah Clement’s two points where all Pleasant Grove could manage in the second quarter, as the Vikings’ icy shooting helped the Miners double up the Vikings 26-13 at the half.

The main difference between the two teams was simply physical size. The bigger, taller Miners created numerous second-chance opportunities through offensive rebounds, coming up with a a 10-0 margin in that category at halftime.

“It was rebounding, plain and simple,” said Pleasant Grove head coach Glenn Larson. “Our half-court offense was okay; good enough to win the game. We didn’t have a whole lot of turnovers, but we just got killed on the boards.”

Pleasant Grove’s leading scorer was Aimee Dorais with seven points. Dorais hit two 3-pointers and shot the Vikings’ only two free throws on the night, making one.

Krystal Carter, Debbie Ireland, Kristy Giles and Sarah Clement each added four points apiece for the Vikings.

Pleasant Grove earned a berth to the tourney by finishing fourth in Region 4. The Vikings finish the season with a record of 9-13 overall.

Boys basketball

Feb. 14 — Pleasant Grove 66, Mountain View 51: At Orem, the visiting Vikings jumped out to a 15-8 lead and went on to pick up the Region 4 victory.

Pleasant Grove was really only threatened once, when the Bruins pulled within eight at the start of the second half after Taylor Russell drilled a 3. Mountain View didn’t stay close for long, as the Vikings executed a set play to perfection, resulting in an easy two for Tallon Robertson.

“Tallon’s our go-to guy for sure. When we need a basket inside, that’s the safest place to go,” said Pleasant Grove coach Randy McAllister. “We’ve got enough guys that can score from the perimeter. When we need a bucket and the game is on the line, Tallon’s the one.”

After the Robertson bucket, the Vikings played just hard enough to keep the game out of reach, but they never really

increased their lead either.

“I thought we were a little flat to be honest,” the coach said. “We’ve been playing in packed gyms the last two weeks, and tonight’s crowd was a little smaller, little quieter than normal. I think it affected the energy of the kids out on the floor.”

The crowd probably only played a partial role in the team’s lackluster performance. The officiating played a role as well as the referees called a total of 40 fouls. Another factor in the slow-paced game was Mountain View’s deliberate style of offensive play.

“We haven’t played a real fast pace all season,” said Mountain View coach Jeff Gardner. “Pleasant Grove plays a faster tempo game, so the slower the pace, the better for us.”

McAllister added, “They know that we like to run. They weren’t in any hurry to get the ball in there and score.”

The combination of the small crowd, slow play and strict referees made it difficult for the players to get excited about the game.

“The game was kind of boring, I didn’t get as pumped as I normally do,” Robertson said. “The whole team, we were kind of just not as up.”

“It felt like a scrimmage,” said Pleasant Grove guard Craig Tucker.

Regardless of how it felt, the Vikings still got the job done. Robertson finished with 18 points in what he called “an off night.” CJ Wilcox added 11 points. Tucker, CJ Wilcox and Zach Brady all had treys for the home team.

Russ Lyman filed this report.

Feb. 16 — American Fork 65, Pleasant Grove 57: The Vikings could not find an answer for Spencer Shumway and the Cavemen pulled into a tie for third with the victory.

After American Fork senior guard Jayce Ross had a monster game Wednesday in the upset win over Spanish Fork, including five 3-pointers, Pleasant Grove was ready for him on Friday.

The Vikings went on the road and only allowed Ross nine points, holding him to 0-for-6 shooting from behind the arc, but fellow senior guard Shumway smoothly took over the spotlight.

Shumway scored 27 points, including five treys, as American Fork pulled off its second big upset in three days.

Caveman head coach Doug Meacham said that depth is the biggest strength of his team.

“That’s what’s fun about this group,” he said. “We try to go to the well, find the guy who’s feeling it. We don’t have one stud who we have to go through.”

It took the home team awhile to figure out who was going to catch fire. Shumway had nine points at the break, but hit four second-half bombs, including a big one early in the fourth quarter that pushed the American Fork lead to six points, 53-47.

“I just let the game come to me,” Shumway explained. “Sometimes I try to force things too much. The coaches told me to settle down and hit shots when I have the opportunity.”

The Vikings got no closer as the Cavemen scored the rest of their points from the foul line. Shumway was instrumental there as well, hitting 10-of-12 attempts for the game.

At the other end of the floor, American Fork did a good job limiting what the visitors wanted to do. Senior guard Brady Mason was praised by both Meacham and Shumway for his defense on Pleasant Grove sophomore forward CJ Wilcox, only allowing him four points.

“Mason did an amazing job on him,” Shumway said. “The coaches told us we needed to get our hands up on their shooters. They really prepared us well for this game.”

The first half was a rag-tag affair marred by fouls. The two teams tallied 25 infractions and shot 28 free throws during the opening two quarters.

Most of those where shot by the Vikings (14-of-20 from the line), but the Cavemen ended up with the 27-26 lead by hitting 9-of-14 field goals.

Things changed in the second half as Pleasant Grove only got to the line three times.

“Their game plan is to drive and get to the basket,” Meacham said. “We weren’t moving our feet and when we started doing that, it forced them to take jump shots.”

The Vikings were led by senior forward Tallon Robertson, who scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. They also got a big lift from junior guard Brady Thurgood, who put in 12 points off the bench, and Craig Tucker with 11.

Jared Lloyd filed this report.