This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

American Fork • In a tie ballgame with 52.7 seconds remaining, Sky View's Jake Hendricks choked. A masterful performance was tainted with two missed free throws when the Bobcats needed them most.

"I knew I had to make up for it," Hendricks said. "I can't let my team down by missing two free throws — that's what wins games. So I was either going to get a steal or make a shot."

After a defensive stop on the opposite end, Hendricks went to work on rectifying his blunder. With a quick jab step, Hendricks guided his defender into Bryce Mortenson's screen at the top of the arc, pulled up and buried a 3-pointer for a 59-56 win against American Fork on the Cavemen's home floor Thursday.

"Tough kid. He's a great shooter; he's done that before for us," Sky View coach Kirk Hillyard said. "He did that last year a couple times."

Hendricks netted a game-high 25 points with six treys. In the second quarter, he pulled the Bobcats within four, 30-26, with three straight triples after American Fork reeled off 11 unanswered points.

"After I missed the first one," Hendricks said about when he knew it was his night. "I wasn't going to miss again. It was too big of a game. My teammates found me the ball, and they knew I was feeling it. They were unselfish."

The Cavemen (3-1) stormed to a 27-14 lead behind a barrage of long-distance jumpers. Brendan Bailey scored 17 points but only managed four in the second half. Spencer Johnson chipped in 15 points, and Brayden Harris added 11.

"They made a lot of shots in the second quarter because we didn't defend with the hand up," said Hillyard. "I thought we did that better, and that made it difficult for them. Hats off to the kids, pretty good man-to-man defense in the second half."

Trailing 46-42, Sky View's Tyler Downs — a 6-foot-6, 320-pound center — knocked down a wing 3 to pull within one before Mortenson muscled up a layup to cap an 11-2 run to start the fourth. Downs finished with a career-high 14 points. Mortenson scored 10.

"It's a great team win for us; something to build on," Hillyard said. "We had a couple rough games the last two games. I didn't feel like our effort was there, but tonight it was. It was fun to watch."

Sky View (2-2) faces the winner of Brighton-Layton in the second round of the Elite 8 Tournament at 6:35 p.m. Friday.

Twitter: @trevorphibbs —

Sky View 59, American Fork 56

R Sky View's Jake Hendricks scores 28 points; Tyler Downs gets 14.

American Fork's Brendan Bailey nets 17 points.

Sky View plays the winner of Brighton-Layton on Friday.