This was not some trendy new offense or a new technique American Fork’s Doug Meacham learned at a coaching clinic, it’s something the Cavemen already knew. When the ball gets to Ryan Andrus in the post good things happen. Good things like?

Dan Nyman scoring a season-high 16 points.

Brendan Bailey being freed up from the 3-point line.

Tyson Rawson finding open lanes.

Andrus scored 17 points and handed out five assists to help American Fork to a 80-62 win over Bingham. “I think Ryan is a great passer in the post. Our guards are starting to figure out that when he gets touches their looks are getting better,” Meacham said. “Bingham’s a physical team. They change their defense on you and try to rattle you. I thought we handled their physicality pretty well.”

American Fork’s balance was simply too difficult for Bingham to handle. Rawson finished with 17 points, Bailey had nine, Kyle Line scored eight and Darin Childs finished with seven points. The Miners didn’t know where American Fork’s next basket was going to come from.

The Cavemen broke the game open with a 10-2 run to start the second quarter. Rawson started the run with a 3-pointer. Nyman knocked down a 3-ponter and then the Cavemen went inside to Andrus on the block. When he was double teamed he found Rawson cutting to the basket for a layup.

After Bingham’s Jordan Evans scored, American Fork’s run continued with a pair of free throws from Nyman to pushed the lead to 26-11 with five minutes left in the half. And you knew it was going to be American Fork’s night when the Cavemen converted a 5-point play.

Andrus curled around a Rawson screen and hit a 3-pointer. After the shot was in the air, Rawson was fouled. He promptly made two free throws.

If that wasn’t a sign, then surely what happened at the end of the half was. With the clock winding down, Brayden Harris got an assist — sort of. He dribbled across halfcourt and fired. He believed he had to shoot to beat the clock but when he took the shot there was still six seconds left to play.

No worries. His shot hit the backboard and bounced right to Nyman, who was under the basket and scored an easy basket to give American Fork a 38-25 lead at intermission.

Just in case Bingham had any ideas of turning the game around, American Fork opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run that effectively put the game away. Line and Bailey each made 3-pointers and Andrus scored on a layup to put the Cavemen up 46-28.

Bingham’s Brandon Morley tried to keep the game close. He led the Miners with 18 points but they could never get American Fork’s lead to dip under 10 points. The win helped American Fork improve to 3-2 while Bingham fell to 2-3.

Bingham 9 16 10 17 — 62

American Fork 16 22 19 23 — 80

Bingham (62)

Turner 4, Mckee 8, Harrison 3, Youngblood 11, Morley 18, Evans 15, Powell 4. Totals: 20 17-23, 62.

American Fork (80)

Nyman 16, Wells 6, Bailey 9, Line 8, Rawson 17, D. Childs 7, Andrus 17. Totals: 24 21-27, 80.

3-point goals — Bingham: 6 (McKee 2, Youngblood 2, Evans, Harrison). American Fork: 9 (Bailey 3, Line 2, Nyman 2, Rawson, Andrus)

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