4A high school basketball: Provo cruises past Woods Cross

PROVO — Provo's quest for its third 4A boys basketball state title in four years began without anything dramatic — no late-game comebacks or game-winning heroics — as the Bulldogs meticulously dispatched Woods Cross 61-45 Tuesday evening.

But a no-nonsense game is exactly what Provo was looking for.

The Wildcats were coming off a 41-37 win over Ogden in their first-round play-in game on Saturday, but proved to be no match for Provo, which opened the game on an 11-2 run and never looked back.

"It's hard to play a team that has already played a game," Provo coach Craig Drury said. "They had the tournament feel already with them, and I thought our kids came out and played hard. They were a little nervous, even though it was a home game, but I was very pleased with them, and it feels good to get this one under our belts."

Provo (18-3) was once again led by do-everything guard Kyle Collinsworth, who filled the stat sheet with 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in the final home game of his high school career.

After scoring a quiet 10 points in the first half, where he played the part of a facilitator rather than a go-to scorer, Collinsworth exploded for 11 points in the third quarter.

His aggressiveness was necessary, as Woods Cross (11-12) went on an 11-4 run to pull within eight at 36-28. The run was fueled by juniors Austin Bankowski and Ryan Anderson, who finished with 23 and 11 points, respectively, but that was as close as the Wildcats would get.

Five straight points by Collinsworth gave the Bulldogs a 41-28 lead and all but put the game away on a night that belonged to Provo.

"There's a statement out there that says, 'Take what they give you.' " Drury said. "I've never believed that. I always say, 'Take what you want.' The first part of the game we were just trying to take what they were giving us instead of taking what we wanted to take, and I think we started doing that in the third quarter."

Provo was also boosted by the performances of seniors Keith Moore and Ryan Durrant, who scored 11 points each. Moore provided the Bulldogs with a secondary playmaker when Collinsworth was double- and triple-teamed, while Durrant shook off a cold-shooting night to seal the game with eight straight free-throws down the stretch.