5A girls high school basketball: American Fork pounds Bingham, reaches title game

TAYLORSVILLE — If a team is going to put together a near-perfect game, the playoffs are certainly the perfect time to do it.

"That's good basketball right there," said American Fork head coach Corey Clayton after the Cavemen earned their second straight trip to the 5A title game with a 68-48 semi-final win over Bingham. "I know it was a 20-point victory, but I think that was a fun game to watch on both sides."

Clayton said he hadn't seen his team play better this season.

"We were solid defensively," he said. "I don't think we had more than a handful of assignment breaks the whole game."

And offensively, most of what the top-ranked team put up, fell in their favor.

"It's fun when your shots are falling," said Kaycee Mansfield, who turned in another solid performance with 15 points, three rebounds and a steal. "We just kept working hard, and it's so fun to play like that."

Clayton said Mansfield prefers to do her job in the shadow of some of the team's other players.

"She's the most solid player that no one recognizes until they look at the stats," Clayton said. "She just does her job."

It was easy to overlook Mansfield as her teammate, senior forward Haley Holmstead, put on a virtual clinic on how to get to the basket despite heavy pressure from the Bingham defense.

"She is capable of doing that on any given night," said Clayton.

Holmstead finished with 27 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

"I was happy with the way we played," said Holmstead. "We played great."

Clayton said he thought both teams played well, but the pace seemed to favor the Cavemen. Bingham was led by Taeja Afalava, who finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Maddie Hind had another solid game with seven points, while Nicole Yazzie and Dezz Ramos added seven points each.

American Fork players and coaches are looking forward to facing second-ranked Riverton in the title game Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Salt Lake Community College's Lifetime Activity Center.

"They are a really, really good team," said Clayton. "I think this is the match-up everybody hoped they get to see."

Holmstead and Mansfield said the players hope to erase the bitter taste last year's second place finish let in their mouths.

"I think it's an advantage...We know what it feels like to go through that game and lose it," Mansfield said. "We don't want to go through that again."

Adds Holmstead, "It's exciting. Bingham and Riverton are great teams with a lot of good players. We have a lot of respect for both of them."

E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com