American Fork boys basketball capitalizes on experience, gets win in 6A first round
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- American Fork sophomore Jax Oyler goes up for a shot during the 6A first round game against Fremont in American Fork on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
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- American Fork react to a basket and a foul during the 6A first round game against Fremont in American Fork on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
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- American Fork junior Bryce Mella looks to pass during the 6A first round game against Fremont in American Fork on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
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- American Fork junior Ashton Hucks shoots a 3-pointer during the 6A first round game against Fremont in American Fork on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
Sometimes seeding can be deceiving.
The best example of that in 6A boys basketball in 2024-25 might be American Fork, which was slotted at No. 15 in the final RPI rankings — but no one should take the Cavemen lightly.
American Fork only managed a 7-16 record during the regular season, but eight of those losses and one of the wins came against out-of-state competition.
And this is a Cavemen squad that is battle tested. Of the 14 games American Fork played against teams from Utah, 10 were decided by four points or fewer with the Cavemen going 6-4 in those games.
So when American Fork found itself in a dogfight in the fourth quarter against No. 18-seed Fremont in the first-round home game on Wednesday, the Cavemen were ready.
American Fork got a couple of big plays from sophomore Jax Oyler down the stretch to help keep the Silverwolves at bay and kept their season going with a 59-50 victory.
“I’m happy for our guys,” Caveman head coach Ryan Cuff said. “We’ve been through it this season but so has Fremont. The records of both team don’t show the true character of the programs. I have a ton of respect for them. We’ve had battles with them before and our preparation was just as tough for that one as any other.”
Oyler felt like his squad was ready for the intensity and up to the test, even though it saw a 12-point second-half lead cut to just two in the final period.
“We have been here before,” Oyler said. “No team has been through adversity like we have but we are all together and ready to make a run.”
Cuff saw his guys stay composed when Fremont made its run, which was a testament to how well they learned the lessons from those regular season games.
“Because of that adversity and being in that position, we didn’t panic,” Cuff said. “You know this is a playoff game and if you lose, you are done. But our guys have been there and down the stretch we took care of the ball. We were able to get to the foul line and make some free throws, which were huge.”
The home team needed one big play to get to the point where it could salt the win away from the charity stripe and Oyler was the one to make it.
With the Silverwolves only down 50-48 with under four minutes left, American Fork broke the Fremont press and got the ball to where Oyler was open in the corner. He confidently fired up the big 3-pointer and hit nothing but net.
“My teammates trusted me to make that shot,” Oyler said. “The coaches believe in us and we are all ready for that moment. We want that. That’s what we are about.”
After a Silverwolf layup, Oyler got fouled and drained both shots to push the lead back to two possessions. Fremont wouldn’t score again as the Cavemen put the game away.
Since American Fork didn’t have a single margin of victory greater than three points in the regular season, Oyler said it felt great to actually not have to stress at the final buzzer.
“That was our biggest win,” he said. “All the others were by one or two or three points. That gives us some momentum heading into the next round against Davis.”
The Cavemen were led by junior Bryce Mella with 18 points, while junior Jax Clark added 15 points and Oyler had eight.
The Silverwolves were paced by 23 points from Easton Duft.
Cuff said American Fork was locked in to be ready to face Fremont but now the Cavemen have to turn their attention toward going on the road to face No. 2-seed Davis.
“Right now it is survive and advance and everyone is 0-0,” Cuff said. “That’s our attitude going in, regardless of what our record was. Davis is a very good basketball team but we’ll be ready. We’ll enjoy this but we’ll probably be up all night.”
Oyler said American Fork will go in expecting to win, despite what the seed lines indicate.
“We are ready for whoever is in front of us,” he said. “We believe we are the best in the state and that we can go beat anyone.”
The Cavemen will take on the Darts in Kaysville on Friday at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to the 6A quarterfinals next week.
