The American Fork girls basketball team held off a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback by Pleasant Grove to earn a 50-48 victory in the Region 4 opener Tuesday night on the road.

It was a game of runs in which both sides took their turns. The Cavemen jumped out to the early 10-5 lead in the initial quarter, but the Vikings responded to finish the period with a 13-5 spurt to take a 3-point advantage into the second.

The run continued for another minute and a half, when Pleasant Grove junior center Lilly Evans converted on a pass from senior Megan Wilde to give her team a 25-17 advantage.

There was a complete scoring drought for the next 4:30 as rugged defense led to tough shots that wouldn’t fall. It ended when American Fork senior guard Jaylee Shepherd dished to senior Megan Eliason for a huge trey.

That sparked a 9-0 outburst from the Cavemen in the final two minutes of the half to push American Fork back up by 26-25 at the break.

The third quarter it was all Cavemen as they built a 45-31 margin with some great efforts from sophomore forward Maile Richardson and senior guard Erin Bergeson.

Pleasant Grove wasn’t quite done yet, however. The Vikings played ferocious defense down the stretch, forcing turnovers and making steals, and they capitalized on many of those opportunities with some great passing.

Pleasant Grove junior guard MeKenna Miles led the charge, and when she took a toss from Evans and sank a 3-pointer at the 1:15 mark, the deficit was reduced to just a single point.

The home squad was forced to foul to stop the clock though, and Shepherd made 3-of-4 foul shots in the final 14 seconds to secure the win for American Fork.

“That’s Pleasant Grove for you,” said Caveman coach Corey Clayton. “They throw some things at you that aren’t typical stuff, but we hit our free throws down the stretch and that made the difference today.

“Any win in our region is hard to come by,” the coach continued. “We’re not going to have time to worry any more about this one. We’ll try to prepare better for next time, but we have another team to get ready for now.

“It wasn’t our best effort, but it was good to see some role players step up and do some good things,” Clayton concluded.

Richardson had 13 points and Shepherd 12 to lead American Fork. Senior guard Cassidy Fraughton didn’t score much but turned in an outstanding floor game. Eliason scored eight and senior guard Bryanna Adams made seven points.

Miles was nothing short of spectacular, finishing with a game-high 17 points, including three treys, along with a lot of effort and leadership on the court. Wilde added nine and Evans eight points for Pleasant Grove.

For their next contests, the Vikings (4-8, 0-1) host Bingham (12-0, 1-0), while the Cavemen (11-2, 1-0) travel to Lehi (0-11, 0-1). Both games are set to tip off Thursday at 7 p.m.

Beky Beaton can be reached at bbeaton@heraldextra.com. Follow her on Twitter at @BeatonWrite.

American Fork 50, Pleasant Grove 48

American Fork (50)

Adams 7, Ja. Shepherd 12, Eliason 8, Squire 1, E. Bergeson 6, A. Bergeson 2, Richardson 13. Totals 18 9-18 50.

Pleasant Grove (48)

Crabb 4, Meg. Wilde 9, Albrecht 4, Evans 8, Eldredge 2, MeK. Miles 17, Sharp 4. Totals 21 2-10 48.

American Fork 15 11 19 5 50

Pleasant Grove 18 6 6 17 48

3 point goals: American Fork 3 (Eliason 2, Ja. Shepherd); Pleasant Grove 4 (Miles 3, Wilde).