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Taylorsville • American Fork began its first-round Class 5A girls basketball game against Copper Hills shooting as if state tournament jitters were just a myth.
The Lady Cavemen seemed to be hitting everything.
And that momentum carried the Utah County team to a 49-38 victory over a Copper Hills team that kept it close but couldn't manage to overcome a slow start.
"We scared ourselves the second quarter," American Fork coach Corey Clayton said about his team's six-point effort. "We have to be more consistently offensively. I thought defensively we were really pretty good most of the night. When [Copper Hills] started putting their heads down and going to the basket, they have a couple of players who are dynamic if you let them get into the paint. We had to switch up defenses a little bit. But I was proud of the way we scored in the third quarter."
American Fork roared to a 12-2 lead early in the game but then went on a second-quarter scoring drought. Page Farnsworth, the only Caveman to hit double figures with 13, hit early and late 3-pointers as Copper Hills climbed to within one point right before the half.
Jenna Shepherd opened the third period with a pair of 3-pointers and Farnsworth added another three to help American Fork build up a 31-19 third-quarter lead.
Copper Hills, which was led by Shirsten Wissinger with 19 points, battled back to within 39-36 late in the fourth period but never could catch American Fork, which shared the Region 4 title with Riverton.
"The first game is the toughest one, especially when you have a quality opponent like Copper Hills," said Clayton, whose team played the Grizzlies in the preseason and last year at state. "We are fortunate to survive and advance."
American Fork will meet Davis on Wednesday at 5:50 p.m. in a quarterfinal game.
Twitter: @tribtomwharton —
American Fork 49, Copper Hills 38
• American Fork survives a six-point second quarter to hold off Copper Hills.
• Paige Farnsworth is the only Lady Caveman to hit double figures with 13, including three 3-pointers.
• Shirsten Wissinger scored 19 for Copper Hills.