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Maeser Prep's Lilah Leeper, left, and Ben Lomond's Reghan Espinoza, right, scramble for a loose ball during during a non-region girls basketball contest on Thusday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Ogden.

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Ben Lomond coach Jamie Phippen, left, and Nhyema Simpson exchange words during a non-region girls basketball contest against Maeser Prep on Thusday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ben Lomond's Nhyema Simpson brings the ball down the floor during a non-region girls basketball contest against Maeser Prep on Thusday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ben Lomond's Brooklyn Richey pops up a quick jumper during a non-region girls basketball contest against Maeser Prep on Thusday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ben Lomond's Diana Campos-Ramer takes off on a fast break during a non-region girls basketball contest against Maeser Prep on Thusday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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OGDEN — Adding girls basketball to her Ben Lomond coaching resume, Jamie Phippen has her hands full with an improved turnout and lots of room to grow in her first season as the team’s newest head coach.

Maeser Prep, a 2A charter school, cleaned out the Scots 41-14 in BL’s home opener Thursday, but the loss didn’t come without a laundry list of second-half positives that Phippen hopes to hone as the season continues.

Lillian Nolan’s game-high 21 points kept the Lions (1-0) on pace throughout the night, but the Scots (0-1) opened up from the field in the third quarter after trailing 22-1 at halftime. Ben Lomond’s team-high six points came via sophomore Trinytee Martinez, hopping off the bench for two 3-pointers in the second half.

Despite producing a single free throw (courtesy of senior forward Aliyah Gonzalez) through the first 26 minutes of action, Phippen watched BL’s emotions level out as her group returned to the floor.

“I’m telling you what, the first half I thought there was a lid on that rim,” Phippen said. “We were happy to get down here, and also I think we settled down a little bit. The nerves and the experience, you could see it in the first half. They settled down, took their time a little bit more, and you could see it pay off.”

Scots senior Brooklyn Richey delivered the team’s first field goal, a short-range jumper, with less than 4 minutes to go in the third quarter. Sophomore guard Nhyema Simpson added a 3-pointer of her own in the fourth quarter, followed by another bench two from sophomore center Brandie Pena.

BL finished the night with five different scorers after closing the first half with just one.

“I want them to realize we’re young, we’re building something, and that if we’re patient and we trust the process, everything will pay off,” Phippen said.

BL stayed in-house with its two basketball coaching hires this offseason, tabbing Phippen, the school’s four-year softball coach, for the girls and adding former football head coach Lyndon Johnson in his return to the basketball bench (after doing so at Roy, Brighton and Northridge in previous stops) to lead the boys.

Previous coaches Aaron VanBeekum and Tanoka Beard stepped away from the head coach roles after last school year.

Core to the rebuild are BL’s two returning seniors in Richey and Gonzalez. Their captainship extends to a mixture of first-year players and multisport transplants, including fellow senior Hadley Chadwick and freshman Reghan Espinoza from the soccer team.

Turning BL’s diverse roster into a winner won’t happen overnight, but Phippen feels she’s got the right numbers to make a dent in her first year on the job.

“I think we see that a lot here at (Ben Lomond) — a lot of new basketball players,” Phippen said.

“But I do have a lot of soccer players, which defensively transitions really well for us. Getting them to get a little bit higher of a basketball IQ is our goal and as soon as we get that done, you’re going to see some really big improvement on our team.”

BL has 11 days off before traveling to Providence Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Connect with reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.