High school basketball: American Fork claims victory in matchup of 5A heavyweights

HIGHLAND - Two of the state's top four teams met head-on on the girls' basketball court when the American Fork Cavemen visited long-time rival Lone Peak in the wild world of Region 4 action.

Region 4 now boasts three of the teams ranked in the 5A top five, with American Fork locked in at No. 2, while the Knights bring it in at No. 4, even though they only count one senior among the members of their roster.

"This region is getting us ready for state. We wouldn't have it any other way. We want to play good teams all of the time," said American Fork coach Corey Clayton after his team finally ground out a hard-nosed 57-46 victory that was really closer than that through most of the game.

He gets his wish for the most part as yet another region school, Alta, is ranked No. 5 and Brighton and Pleasant Grove have also both spent time in the state's top-ranked squads this year.

"I have to classify this game as a grinder for us. It's not pretty sometimes, but you have to win the grinders too," said Clayton. "They all look the same in the box score."

This game was a rollercoaster ride for both schools as the Knights rushed out to a 13-6 lead only to watch American Fork go on a 10-0 run at the end of the first and beginning of second quarters.

The Knights then regained their form and took one point leads a couple of times in the second only to see the Cavemen run out to seven straight and 10 of the last 12 points in the first half.

Whitney Johnson rang up 13 points for Lone Peak in the first half and played a huge role in Lone Peak's offense in the first half, but Clayton puts plenty of importance on American Fork's ability to shut her down in the second half, holding her to a single field goal and only two points.

"We just said 'she's killing us,' and we had to do something about it," said Clayton.

Makenzie Moea'i took it upon herself to work hard on both ends of the court, trying to take Johnson out of her game.

But even with Johnson unable to play with her usual inside flair, the Knights still found a way to lead 33-32 at the end of the third. But much of the credit had to go to some tough Knight defense and the production of Marquelle Funk, who fouled out with the Cavemen holding a mere 41-39 lead and 3:45 remaining in the game.