Provo marches into finals

In 21 years as coach at Provo High, Craig Drury has taken a team to the state championship game 11 times. But this is the first year that his team has ever finished lower than second in Region 6.

Still, it never seemed to bother him. Drury knew this year's bunch was special and would eventually gel into a championship contender. The Bulldogs might be surprising most people by getting that chance tonight after a 57-45 semifinal win Friday night over Bonneville, but they're not surprising Drury.

"This is a storybook team" Drury said, reflecting on a team that lost eight regular season games and finished fourth in Region 6.

And just as he figured a few weeks ago, those losses are now just seasoning that's making his team stronger with each passing game. Provo will get another shot at one of those Region 6 teams that beat the Bulldogs tonight.

"It helps when you have a region that beats you up and kicks you around," Drury said.

In defeating a tough Lakers squad Friday, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never trailed. Provo did a great job of controlling the tempo and style of play. As usual, the Bulldogs played stellar defense. Also, as usual, most of Provo's offense went through the hands of standout center Tai Wesley. The 6-foot-7 senior poured in 25 points, grabbed 10 boards and dished out a game-high five assists.

"When you've got the best player around, he makes a lot of good things happen," Drury said.

After the Lakers had closed the gap to 7-5 early, the Bulldogs scored nine of the next 11 points to take a nine-point first-quarter lead. The closest Bonneville got again was five, early in the second period. Provo answered every one of Bonneville's runs. The Lakers' Andrew Rich tried to mount a few charges, but Wesley and company kept pushing them back.

Rich hit a 3-pointer to trim the score to 21-15 midway through the second, but Wesley came right back with a layup and on the next possession dished off to sophomore Tanner Gregory for another easy hoop. The Wesley-to-Gregory combo was deadly. Wesley also kicked the ball out a few times to set up Cory Carter with open 3-point shots.

"Tai's really like a triple-option quarterback. He gets the ball and reads what's there," Drury said.

Gregory, only 15 years old, scored 14. He had two critical baskets off of Wesley feeds to open the third period, pushing the Bulldogs' lead back to 10.

The Lakers didn't go away easily. When Rich opened the final quarter with a 3-pointer it brought Bonneville to within six. But Gregory responded with another layup and then when Wesley converted a 3-point play, Provo had an 11-point lead. Twelve foul shots from that point on sealed the deal.

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E-mail: jimr@desnews.com