From Deseret News archives:
High school girls basketball: American Fork pops threes to down Pleasant Grove
After three quarters of even basketball with five ties, seven lead changes and the Vikings leading much of the time, the Cavemen turned on the afterburners and started popping the treys.
Amy Krommenhoek knocked down two of her trio of treys in the final period, while Haley Holmstead, normally more of an inside worker, added a pair of her own. In the end, the Cavemen came away with a 61-54 victory over Pleasant Grove, keeping themselves undefeated against in-state competition and 9-0 in Region 4 with one game remaining. Pleasant Grove dropped into a tie with Lone Peak for second place with a 6-2 record.
"We were behind. She (Holmstead) hates losing. She'll do whatever she can to not let that happen," American Fork coach Corey Clayton said about his star, who finished with a game-high 28 points, 22 of them in the second half and 14 in the fourth quarter.
Pleasant Grove came out of the gate hot, leading after the first 15-11 and at halftime 26-25 as 6-foot-6 inside presence Jennifer Hamson dominated on the inside, scoring 15 of her 20 points in the first half. But American Fork came back in the second half, concentrating its defensive effort on Hamson and on stopping the offense before it got started by pressuring the Pleasant Grove guards early.
"We went back to what we normally do on defense. Before we were trying to play behind her," Clayton said about Hamson, adding, "but then we just went back to what we normally do." They put plenty of backside help on Hamson and relied pretty heavily on some young post players to take on the tough Pleasant Grove inside presence.
With post Makenzie Moea'i out until the playoffs with a stress fracture, Clayton had the chance to give sophomore Hayley Su'a-Filo and freshman Grace Farnsworth some solid playing time in a tough situation. He also had the chance to see that they played pretty solid, and knows he can count on them in the future.
"I think Grace bothered Hamson more than anybody else out there today. This was a good opportunity to see if you can get some good contributions from younger players. I thought those two especially showed us they can go out there and contribute," Clayton said, impressed with his youngsters after the game.
He was also impressed with the impressive defensive performance by Nikki Ybarra and Cydne Mason, who created stress for the Pleasant Grove guards and "disrupted the timing of their offense."
Another thing the American Fork team started doing much better, especially in the fourth quarter, was boxing out and getting on the boards, limiting the Vikings to fewer chances every time down the court. The Cavemen had secured the Region 4 title prior to the contest against Pleasant Grove, but they want more than a region title, American Fork has it's sights set on the state tournament.
In addition to Holmstead's 28 points, Krommenhoek added 14, and Kaycee Mansfield finished with 13, including a pair of her own 3-pointers, bringing the American Fork total to seven.
Danyele Hoffman drained Pleasant Grove's only pair of treys, finishing with 10 points, while Ana Finau proved a strong inside presence again with 16.
E-mail: jolsen@desnews.com
