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Taylorsville • American Fork coach Corey Clayton succinctly summed up his impression of his team's Class 5A quarterfinal victory outside the lockers at Salt Lake Community College on Wednesday.

"Really good first half," he said. "That's all I want to say."

Style points are unnecessary when it comes to playoff competition. Win. Good, bad or ugly — it's irrelevant — just get it done. While it might not have been worthy of a postcard, the Cavemen did exactly that by holding off Davis' second-half surge to earn a 45-36 victory.

"I'd rather win ugly than lose and play really well. We'll work on some things tomorrow," Clayton said. "At this point, though, there's not a whole lot you can do in two days. You're either ready to go, or you're not. We'll see what happens."

American Fork ended the first quarter on five straight points from Jenna Shepherd, who used a jab step to create space on a long jumper before closing the first quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to push American Fork ahead 15-9.

With a combination of hesitation dribbles and well-executed pump fakes, Shepherd (nine points, six steals, four rebounds and four assists) penetrated the Darts defense with ease in the first half, allowing the junior guard to score or connect with trailing teammates, including two straight assists to Maile Richardson (eight points, nine rebounds) that put American Fork up 22-11 midway through the second quarter.

The Cavemen enjoyed a 29-13 advantage at intermission after Paige Farnsworth's fast-break layup. American Fork, which scored 22 points off 25 Davis turnovers, shot nearly 42 percent in the first half, compared to 22.7 percent in the final 16 minutes.

"We didn't make any easy shots, and we started feeling sorry for ourselves on the other end," said Clayton, who didn't have an explanation for the complacency in the final two quarters. "That made us not play defense the way we're supposed to. That happens."

Meaghan David captained a strong second-half push for the Darts, scoring nine of her team-high 11 points in the third quarter. After Shepherd hurled a long-distance pass to Farnsworth cherry-picking on the opposite end, David countered with a 3-ball to pull within single digits.

Davis continued to hang around by controlling the glass, particularly with McKinaly Otterson, who grabbed nine boards. The Darts won the battle of points in the paint (24-22), total rebounds (35-27) and second-chance points (10-2), but would not get closer than 38-32 after squandering numerous opportunities with their poor ball security.

American Fork will face either Fremont or Lone Peak in the semifinals on Friday at 5:50 p.m. The Cavemen won both meetings against the Knights and haven't faced the Silver Wolves yet.

Twitter: @trevorphibbs —

American Fork 45, Davis 36

• The Cavemen surge to a 29-13 lead in the first half.

• AF shoots just 22.7 percent after the break, but makes up for it by scoring 22 points off 25 Davis turnovers for the game.

• Meaghan David leads the Darts' rally, scoring nine of her 11 points in the third period.