Boys basketball: Layton falters against Clark, American Fork in nonregion setback
Lancers fall 70-58 in first loss since Jan. 9 road trip to Syracuse
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- Layton’s Chase Randall blocks a layup by American Fork’s Jax Clark during a nonregion boys basketball contest on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at Layton High School in Layton.
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- Layton High’s Karter Miller looks for a whistle during a nonregion boys basketball contest against American Fork on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at Layton High School in Layton.
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- Layton’s Nic Anderson looks for an open pass during a nonregion boys basketball contest against American Fork on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at Layton High School in Layton.
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- Layton’s Karter Miller puts up a fadeaway bucket during a nonregion boys basketball contest against American Fork on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at Layton High School in Layton.
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- Layton’s Jack Godderidge drives toward the basket during a nonregion boys basketball contest against American Fork on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at Layton High School in Layton.
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- Layton’s Chase Randall drives past American Fork’s Tyler Zabriskie during a nonregion boys basketball contest on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at Layton High School in Layton.
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- Layton’s Nic Anderson watches players wrestle for possession during a nonregion boys basketball contest against American Fork on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at Layton High School in Layton.
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- Layton coach Kelby Miller calls out to his team during a nonregion boys basketball contest against American Fork on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at Layton High School in Layton.
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- American Fork coach Ryan Cuff, right, argues his case with Tyler Barfuss, a UHSAA official, during a nonregion boys basketball contest on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at Layton High School in Layton.
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- American Fork’s Jax Clark and Layton’s Tage Allen go for the tipoff during a nonregion boys basketball contest on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at Layton High School in Layton.
LAYTON — Jax Clark dunked the ball (a lot) throughout a 30-point effort for American Fork in a nonregion boys basketball contest at Layton High on Tuesday night.
Clark, a 6-foot-8 center-forward with three in-state offers, including one from Utah State, controlled the floor in the second half of a 70-58 road win for the Cavemen. He’d drop 13 points in the fourth quarter alone, helping record the most points allowed by Layton on its home floor this season.
Layton has only give up 70-plus points on two other occasions this season: a 75-71 overtime win over Palisades High (California) at a neutral site game, and a 74-67 loss to Pleasant Grove during the Utah Autism Holiday Classic at Olympus High School.
Tuesday’s loss to American Fork (12-7) is another bitter reminder that Layton (13-6) must make up for its lack of size inside should it hang the team’s first region title since 2023. Lancers coach Kelby Miller, now a year removed from rostering former All-Area center Joshua Checketts, knows what he’s up against as the postseason nears.
“You don’t see a lot of bigs like (Clark) in 6A, especially in the last few years,” Miller said. “Someone who’s just athletic, who’s strong, and who can put the ball on the floor and create his own shot … we don’t have size to match that.”
Karter Miller, leading Layton’s 22-16 start to the evening, finished the first half with a floor-high 17 points, including five doubles and a triple. Layton’s senior point guard finished the night with 25 points, including a near-perfect 8-of-9 mark at the free-throw line.
Nic Anderson (six points), Tage Allen (three points) and Jack Godderidge (six points) fetched four triples in putting Layton up five at the half; Chase Randall pulled down five for the Lancers.
A combination of Clark’s persistence on the glass, and an increasingly restless Bryce Mella (19 points), saw American Fork turn the tide 50-49 by the end of the fourth quarter. Jax Olyer (seven points), Ashton Hucks (five points) and Nicholas Bramwell (three points) each finished with a piece of the action.
“It felt like we had to scramble a bit,” Kelby Miller said. “It felt like we were a bit more locked in on (Mella) in the second half. He got it going a bit and I feel like maybe our legs weren’t there. We didn’t hit some shots that we hit in the first half. We need to do a better job of sharing the basketball and being able to hit shots when we have opportunities.”
A 7-0 run by the Cavemen had Layton on the ropes with 5:24 left; Randall matched an Ashton Burnside (six points) 3-pointer coming out of a timeout, and things looked up with a Burnside defensive foul handing Layton a new possession down just seven.
The possession blew up in their face, and Clark put down one of multiple two-hand jams to improve American Fork’s footing to 61-52 with 2:15 left.
The resulting loss is Layton’s first since a 63-57 defeat at Syracuse on Jan. 9. On Friday, Layton is seeking redemption in a home bout with the Titans slated for 7 p.m.
“The focus moving forward is Friday,” Kelby Miller said. “We have an opportunity to avenge a loss that we feel slipped away from us at their place.”
Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.
