3 Takeaways: American Fork vs. Orem
American Fork and Orem competed at a high level last night with Orem ultimately prevailing. Despite the close outcome of the game, Orem led after 3 quarters.
American Fork continued to battle in order to put themselves in a position to lead late in the 4th quarter. However, Orem was able to do enough in overtime to win the basketball game.
Here are our 3 takeaways from the American Fork and Orem basketball game.
3 Takeaways: American Fork vs. Orem
1. Tournament Ready
The first of the takeaways is that American Fork and Orem are ready for any challengers the rest of the way.
Although American Fork has lost some close games, they have played quite the non-region schedule with games against Olympus, Orem, Layton, and Copper Hills. Their schedule does not get any easier as region play starts soon with Bingham, Lone Peak, and Pleasant Grove looking for solid.
American Fork will need to find ways to win these games. However, few teams in the state tournament will have played as a high a level of competition as American Fork.
On the other hand, Orem has played a tough schedule as well which has included contests against out of state competition as well. Their only lose so far to an in-state team came against Timpanogos.
As far as in-state wins are concerned, they battled their most likely competition for the 4A crown in Juan Diego and pulled out the win. In addition, this is another “resume win” that aids in them being ranked #1 in 4A.
The Orem Tigers look prepared for a great season and an eventual region, and potentially state, title.
2. Orem is the top dog in 4A
Many people’s alarms went off after Orem dropped one early in the season to Timpanogos. However, they have proceeded to win some big games in wins against Juan Diego and American Fork. Orem was ranked #1 in our Way Too Early Rankings this off-season. Despite the rankings being done early, it looks as though they are prepared to compete for that spot.
Puka Nacua had a coming out party last night and will need to continue to be a factor on the offensive and defensive end for Orem to continue to be one of the top teams in 4A. In addition to Nacua, Orem has been well-balanced this year and received key contributions from Ike Richards and Ross Reeves.
3. Stars Shine
Puka Nacua OremJohnson had another big game last night as he continues to demonstrate why he is an NCAA Division I caliber basketball player. Despite the lose, Johnson has had a couple of huge games in a row. One of them was a recent 30 point outing as well. He is consistent scoring the basketball and will be a problem for opponents.
Although Johnson is the biggest name recruit in this game, Nacua’s heroics cannot be left without mention. In addition to being the leading scorer in the game, Nacua took a charge late in the game that was crucial to the outcome of the game. The duel sport-athlete is off to a great start this season.