Shooting stars — Provo's Collinsworth headlines 2007 boys All-Valley honorees

With Utah Valley having two state champions and six teams reaching the semifinals, there was clearly a load of basketball talent in regions 4 and 7 this past season.

That's why picking an All-Utah Valley team and most valuable player was no easy task. Parity was the theme in both regions.

Also, there's much more to being a good basketball player than scoring — even though that's usually the main value to a team and most noticeable statistic. But many players contributed in many aspects to their team's success, and we took those factors into account.

In narrowing down our list of MVP contenders and candidates for our first and second teams, we tried to look at each player's skills, effort and value. We not only looked at regular-season performance, but weighed the postseason as well.

The MVP race, heading into the playoffs, was between four players — Tallon Robertson, Chris Collinsworth, McKay Massey and Tyler Haws. After the postseason, picking one of those four was not much easier. However, one player was certainly the main reason his team won a state title, and that ended up being the final determining factor.

Two other players, who were on the bubble of first-team or second-team, grabbed those final spots on our starting five with an impressive week at the state tournament — the time when playing well mattered most.

MVP

CHRIS COLLINSWORTH — 6-foot-9, Sr., center, Provo: The Bulldogs' big guy had everyone wondering when his scoring dipped midway through the season when he was hampered by head and hand injuries. However, once the seriousness of those injuries was revealed (broken bone and bruised retinal nerve), the things Collinsworth did on the court became even more impressive. As a post-player with guard skills, he scored 16.6 points during the regular season, but led the Bulldogs through the 4A tournament at a clip of 21 points per game. He capped the year with a 27-point championship-game night. He also had an outstanding year on the boards, was a force on defense and was an outstanding passer.

Starting Five

TYLER HAWS — 6-foot-4, So., guard, Lone Peak: Having a sophomore go-to guy has Lone Peak fans smiling in anticipation. Haws was almost unguardable in posting double figures in every game. He finished fourth in 5A scoring at 18.8 points per game and did his damage from all over the floor. He knocked down 69 percent of his treys, drained 57 percent of his shots from the floor and hit 81 percent from the line.