Awesome Cavewoman-Froggie Barnburner

Timp Sports Weekly

January 15, 2013T

Publisher's Message

Every often,  we read stories of basketball teams vexed with horrible records turning out to be tough opponents for powerhouse squads. That is the theme for this week's issue, which will focus on the surprisingly close game between my Awesome American Fork Cavewomen and the Lehi Pioneers, AKA the Froggies. The Jan. 10 game was the most riveting -- correction, ribbiting contest I had ever witnessed between the Awesome Cavewomen  and the Froggies. If it weren't for some American Fork foul shots in the last five minutes, those Froggies would have had a win to croak about for days to come. Well, as they say in Lehi, let's dive into the story about the game. It was swamped with excitement. I guarantee you.

Dean Von Memmott

Publisher

magnanovelist@gmail.com

Awesome AF Cavewomen Narrowly Survive Upset Attempt in Jan. 10 Game at Lehi

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Awesome American Fork Cavewomen went into Lehi's gym Jan. 10, expecting to dry up the Lehi Pioneers, AKA the Froggies, in a hurry. After all, Lehi had won only one game so far this season: a 63-50 win over the Payson Lions, AKA the Kitties, on Dec. 20. Thus on paper, American Fork should have throttled those Croakers within the first five minutes. However, the Awesome Cavemen didn't take the Froggies seriously, enabling Lehi to dominate the game until the final five minutes. Thanks to some free throws at the end, the Awesome Cavewomen managed to win 50-49.

Missed free throws proved to be a big problem for the Awesome Cavewomen during the course of the night. Cavewoman Amy Bergeson, for one, went 2-8 at the line. Teammates Cassidy Fraughton and Megan Eliason also had problems with swishing in foul shots. Bryanna Adams went 8-8 at the line, but her foul shooting didn't come on strong until later in the game. 

Poor foul shooting was not the only problem that hampered American Fork through most of the game. The Awesome Cavewomen also vexed themselves with bad passes and other frequent turnovers, which provided the Froggies opportunities that they quickly hopped at. The American Forkers also let Lehi clobber them on the boards through most of the game.

Adams did put her Awesome Cavewomen on the board first. Reesie Tua tied the game at two. Aided by a Jaylee "Shep" Shepard tie-breaking shot, Adams and Fraughton each swished in a trey to create a 9-2 lead for the Awesome Cavewomen. Just as it appeared that Lehi would get dried up early as it had done in most of its games so far this season, the Froggies began a comeback that should have made clear to the Cavewomen that Lehi had to be taken seriously. Beth Beeston nailed an inside shot, and Faitoto'a Faleao became the Froggies' go-to girl for scoring inside with shots. With the Froggies dominating the boards, they kept feeding the ball to Faleao. Her shots from outside the key and at the foul line soon tied the game at 11. Before the Awesome Cavewomen could pull ahead, Froggie Brooklyn Willes stole the ball and passed to Micala Downs for a tie-breaking layup. Downs frosted it with a foul shot to complete a three-point play. Although Awesome Cavewoman Alynn Breinholt hit a trey to tie game at 14, a Faleoa bucket gave the Froggies a 16-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter went down as a story of the Froggies breaking practically every tie created by the Awesome Cavewomen. Early in the second quarter, Adams tied the game at 16, but Willes broke the tie. After sophomore Maile Richardson hit two foul shots to tie the game at 20, Fraughton scored four unanswered points on two layups that she made within seconds of each other, putting American Fork ahead 24-22. However, the Froggies soon retook the lead. After teammate Tyra "T-Rod" Rodriguez tied the game at 24, Willes extended it to 26-24. An Eliason free throw put the Awesome Cavewomen within 26-25. Before American Fork could row ahead, Falaeo hit an inside shot that gave Lehi a 28-25 advantage.

In the second half, a Willes trey opened third-period scoring, giving Lehi a 31-25 lead. It became the Froggies' biggest lead of the game. In the meantime, the third quarter saw the Froggies remain able to keep hopping ahead of the frustrated Awesome Cavewomen, who continued hurting themselves with poor efforts on the boards and frequent turnovers. Even though Fraughton and Bergsono did guided the Awesome Cavewomen within 33-32 and 35-34, Rodriguez's rebounding prodded the Froggies to keep jumping a few points ahead. By the end of the third quarter, the Froggies commanded a 39-36 lead. If it had not been for Adams' incredibly accurate shooting, the Awesome Cavewomen would have definitely been flooded out of Lehi's gym well before the start of the fourth quarter.

The arrival of it gave the Froggies hope of scoring one of the biggest upsets in 5-A girls' basketball this month. No doubt Lehi would have done, if American Fork had continued not taking the Froggies seriously. The Awesome Cavewomen rowed within 39-38, but Tua nailed two foul shots and put a shot back in to create a 42-38 lead that gave the impression that the Froggies would keep staying narrowly ahead clear to the final buzzer. 

"We started playing good basketball in the last five minutes," said American Fork Coach Corey Clayton. "Thank God they were the right five minutes. We got a lot to work on."

Beginning at the 5:00 mark, Bergson and Eliason guided the Awesome Cavewomen within 43-42, Pulling down a defensive board, Fraughton connected a long pass to Richardson, who got fouled while going for a layup. Richardson hit both of her foul throws to tip the Awesome Cavewomen ahead 44-43. Richardson hit another two a short time later. The momentum swung to the Awesome Cavewomen's favor. Richardson pulled down some key defensive rebounds while Shepherd came produced some steals that enabled American Fork to tighten its hold on the lead. The Froggies became more aggressive in hopes of leaping back out in front. Their efforts ended up sending Adams and Fraughton to the foul line several times each, enabling American Fork to build up a 60-47 lead. The game ended with Rodiguez sinking a meaningless bucket.

"Maile was pretty tough on the boards tonight," Clayton said. "That helped us a lot down the wire."

Adams led the Awesome Cavewomen with 16 points while Fraughton added another 12. Faleao led the Froggies with17 points while Tua added another eight.