High school girls basketball: American Fork starts quick to upset No. 3 Bengals

AMERICAN FORK — The American Fork Cavemen are back. They announced their return against the state's No. 3-ranked Brighton Bengals, and they announced it in a big way.

"Top to bottom, I thought we played well. I loved the effort and the way we shared it," said American Fork coach Corey Clayton after his team had taken out the Bengals 63-46.

"I just thought individually each player decided they were not going to be victims, and they were in attack mode all game long. The team that gets the first punch puts the other team on its heels, and we got the first punch," added Clayton.

The two teams were really heading in different directions up until the start of this week. Brighton took an undefeated record into its first Region 4 contest against Lone Peak and came out with its first loss of the season. American Fork, coming off its 5A state championship last season and high hopes for this season, had been playing a little sluggishly, especially late in 2009 at the Nike Tournament in Arizona.

Now the Cavemen find themselves at 2-0 in tough Region 4, and the Bengals have dug themselves a hole at 0-2.

The Cavemen came out with a lightning burst of energy and didn't let up all game long. They held onto 11-point leads twice in the first quarter and held their own in the second period despite the Bengals getting hot from the outside.

After dropping three treys in the second quarter alone, the Bengals finished with six 3-pointers in the game, helping them keep it close enough for hope until midway through the fourth.

"That's what happens sometimes when you play a zone, you can't close out fast enough on the outside shooters," said Clayton.

But the Bengals' lights-out shooting, which included four treys by Marissa Egbert and another pair by Shelby Everett, wasn't enough to ever really threaten an energized American Fork squad.

Clayton noted that his team learned a lot about preparedness down at the tournament in Arizona, and they gained quite a lot in experience that they brought back with them in the game against Brighton. American Fork's play from start to finish led Clayton to believe his team could really threaten for another title if they could just bottle that play and use it throughout the rest of the season and the playoffs.

But right now the Cavemen aren't focused on anything not directly in front of them, meaning right now all thoughts are on Alta.