Trailing Cavemen tie game with 5 minutes to play, win 51-47 to move on in playoffs
American Fork's Brendan Bailey goes up for a basket during the second half against Jordan in the first round of the 5a state basketball championships at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. American Fork won, 51-47. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
American Fork's Taylor Rawson dunks the ball during the first half against Jordan in the first round of the 5a state basketball championships at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. American Fork won, 51-47. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
American Fork's Christian Wells, right, drives the ball to the basket as Jordan's Marcus Gutierrez applies pressure during the second half in the first round of the 5a state basketball championships at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. American Fork won, 51-47. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
American Fork's Kyle Line passes the ball during the first half against Jordan in the first round of the 5a state basketball championships at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. American Fork won, 51-47. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
American Fork's Kyle Line, right, looks to pass the ball as Jordan's Marcus Gutierrez applies pressure during the first half in the first round of the 5a state basketball championships at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. American Fork won, 51-47. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
American Fork players cheer during the second half against Jordan in the first round of the 5a state basketball championships at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. American Fork won, 51-47. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
OGDEN – The American Fork boys basketball team trailed almost the entire game against Jordan in the first round of the 5A state tournament Monday afternoon at Weber State, but they came back to tie with five minutes to play and ultimately won 51-47 to move on in the playoffs.
It was a combination of things which allowed the Cavemen to come back: improved ball control, better defense and excellence at the free-throw line were probably the most critical.
The last of those is what stood out the most, however. American Fork shot 17-of-18 from the line for the game, or 94.4 percent. Center Ryan Andrus got nine of his 11 points that way, including seven in the fourth quarter.
His nine rebounds, five blocks and four steals also made a huge difference, but he was by no means the only contributor.
Forward Tyler Rawson scored a game-high 16 with right boards and two steals. Guards Daniel Nyman and Brayden Harris came off the bench and made both shots that each of them tried – and all of them were from 3-point range.
The last of those was a back-breaker. With under three minutes remaining and the advantage just two points, guard Christian Wells set a screen high, opening up Harris for the dagger shot to make it 45-40.
The Beetdiggers got a three-point play with 14 seconds left to close the margin to two points, but Andrus hit the last two of his free throws to secure the win for the Cavemen.
American Fork did have 19 turnovers in the contest, but Jordan had 17, and many of those were caused by the defense. Even more significantly, the Cavemen had 14 assists on 15 field goals, indicative of their outstanding passes.
“We have a lot of guys who haven’t played in the tournament before, and that accounts for a lot of the turnovers with some nerves,” said American Fork coach Doug Meacham. “I’d have to say that the performance at the free-throw line made up for that somewhat though.”
During the break, the coach told his team to settle down with the ball and to communicate better on the defensive end. He was pleased with the results on both counts in the second half.
“Jordan’s a good team,” Meacham said. “Their guards are tough but we did a good job competing. It was a challenge to contain their big, but we were able to do that for the most part.”
As for the big Harris trey off the bench, the coach said that was really no surprise. “He’s won our 3-point contest the last two years, one time with a boot, so we know he can knock them down,” Meacham said.
“The real key on that play, though, was Christian setting that screen and recognizing that Brayden was open,” he added.
Wells finished with six points, five assists and two steals, while guard Kyle Line also made five assists to go with four rebounds and four points.
The Cavemen (16-8) will play Syracuse (14-8) Wednesday at 5:50 p.m.
“This is a great group of guys, and they want it in the worst way,” the coach concluded.
Beky Beaton can be reached at bbeaton@heraldextra.com. Follow her on Twitter at @BeatonWrite.
American Fork 51, Jordan 47
Jordan (47)
Jones 6, Pasker 7, Smith 13, Nilsson 7, Gutierrez 10, Farnsworth 2, Schindler 2. Totals 17 10-15 47.
American Fork (51)
Bailey 2, Rawson 16, Andrus 11, Wells 6, Line 4, Nyman 6, Harris 6. Totals 15 17-18 51.
Jordan 19 6 8 14 — 47
American Fork 8 12 11 20 — 51
3 point goals: Jordan 3 (Smith, Nilsson, Gutierrez); American Fork 4 (Nyman 2, Harris 2).