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Show American Fork Citizen New Utahl - Wednesday, December 22, 1999 Page 10 Sports Cavemen lose nailbiter at Payson in OT By Steve Schaack Sports Correspondent It was all laid on the line as American Fork battled the Payson Lions on Dec. 17 in the region opener for both clubs. After a fierce contest, the Cavemen fell 61-58 in overtime. Everything Coach Eckles and his staff asked for, they received. Players were executing execut-ing plays to perfection, picks were set well, but the shots just didn't fall when needed. Eckles told his team following follow-ing the game, "I was excited to see how hard we'd play, and I am a pretty happy guy. The loss is nobody's fault. I have more confidence in you now than I did when we got off the bus. I am the luckiest guy in the world to coach you guys. Everybody did their part tonight." The Cavemen found themselves them-selves down early in the first quarter 11-2 after the first three minutes of play. Consecutive three pointers by Nate Burton and Bryt Christensen and a jumper by Russ Jepson cut the score to 11-10. 11-10. After the first period, American Fork was trailing 19-14. In the second quarter both teams seemed to be rushing things on the offensive end. On five straight possessions there were five turnovers. Despite the offensive struggles, strug-gles, the defense of the Cavemen helped cut the Lion lead to 27-24 at halftime, thanks to Jeff Pulley draining a trey off a steal. "Jeff was big defensively for us tonight," Eckles said. In the third quarter, both offenses settled down and the lead see-sawed back and forth. "We had more patience offensively offen-sively in the second half. We set solid picks to get the good shots," Eckles said. Christensen tied the game at 29 on a three-point play and then followed with a putback to take a 31-29 lead. The defense continued to make the stops to get the offense going. With the Cavemen down by one at 36-37, Pulley went in for a layup off another one of his steals to take a 38-37 lead. Payson would tie the score at 40 to end the third quarter. In the final period, American Fork continued to show the determination and desire they showed throughout the whole i contest. Payson jumped out to a 50-46 lead at the beginning of the quarter. Then buckets by Bryt Christensen and Russ Jepson tied the contest at 50 with three minutes remaining. In the last two minutes of the quarter, Christensen nailed another three pointer to give American Fork a 53-51 lead. Payson would come back to tie the score at 53 to send it into overtime. In the extra period, Payson jumped on the Cavemen quickly quick-ly as they took a 58-53 lead. Just as they had done all night, the Cavemen came right back. There was a feeling that everything every-thing was going to be left on the court no matter the outcome. Jepson answered immediately with a trey to cut the lead to 58-56. 58-56. "Defenses are going to put their best defenders on Russ, but they will not be able to stop him all night. The kid doesn't stop running. Jepson will run them ragged before the game is over," Eckles said. After Payson took a 60-56 lead, Jepson knocked down two free throws with 41 seconds left to cut the score to 60-58. Then with 19 seconds left on the clock, the Cavemen got the ball back and quickly called time out to set up the winning bucket. As Jepson came off the screen at the top of the key, the shot fell short and rolled off two AF players and out of bounds. "The last play was set up perfect. Russ got a great pick and a great look. Two of our guys were so anxious going for the ball that it went off their knees. We had a great effort and you can't fault them for that," Eckles said. "Bryt played great tonight. It hurt when Herman fouled out, He is the rock of our team defensively. I like the way we played away from home. We are making improvement," Eckles said. One thing is for sure, the close games are going to make American Fork better when they get into the thick of their region schedule. Jepson led the team with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Bryt Christensen and Jeff Pulley each had 12 points. The Cavemen will travel to Northridge on December 30. Game time is 7 p.m. liiltf! 1 I: - f Uf : 4 j li ' w e Caveman Jeff Pulley dishes off a pass in a thriller with Payson last Friday. Parry's Power Guide to High School Boys Basketball By Noland Parry Week of Dec. 20-25, 1999 learn i-v-' Rating 4A Regioft Six. 95.1 i Ameridan Fork i 95.7 tone Peak (3f 99 0 'Payson .) 93.0 Pteaiant Grove 89.9 Provo(2) t.', V. .101.6 Spanfeh FofH 1 .92.8 Springvltt .-it ...?J9.8 Timpvie(4J .v. ... J8.6 3A " " Region Ten ,77.5 Lehi . .,..:'. . . v82.6 Judge Mem.i 5 ) , , 875 Park City . .... '. . .667 Uintah t , . Union . i , . . Wasatch, ., k .-,.77-4 i Copyright 1998 by Noland ftirrjf Last weeks reconj: 61-10 85.9 Year to date record; 171-62 734 " T v f A Photos by Steve Schaack, AF's Bryt Christensen goes up for a rebound against Payson on; j Dec. 17. Basketball AFHS JV GIRLS: American Fork beat Payson 36-16 on Dec. 17. Shaelynn Hall had 7 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals to lead the team effort. Julie Paxman had 7 points and 7 steals. Amie Toone and Tiffany Son each had 6 points. In the Timpview game Dec. 14, American Fork defeated the Thunderbirds 34-22. Tiffany Son led the team with 10 points, while Hall added 9. AFHS SOPH GIRLS: On Nov. 30 the American Fork girls fell to Timpanogos 56-49. Nicole Apgood led the team with 13 points. Then on Dec. 8 they lost to Lehi 39-32. Michelle Quilter scoped Xl points. in (he game, They battled Mountain View on Dec.' 9 and were defeated ,6629. Julie Paxman led the teanv, with 12 points. On Dec. 14 they were edged by Timpview 46-44. 46-44. 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