4A boys high school basketball: Rams give Bulldogs a scare

WEST VALLEY CITY — Provo High coach Craig Drury has seen all there is to see in state basketball tournaments. After all, he's won eight of them.

So it tells you plenty about how much danger his Bulldogs were of being eliminated from the 4A state tournament and having their lengthy winning streak halted by the tough Highland Rams when Drury had an uneasy feeling Thursday afternoon.

"I thought we were going to lose," Drury said. "At a certain point in the game, I thought, 'We've got to get this turned around.' Highland is a good team. It's not like we were playing a cupcake out there."

Provo, now winners of 40 consecutive games, is no patsy either, and it made key plays down the stretch to survive against Highland, 39-32. The Bulldogs advance to play Bountiful in the semifinals in a rematch of last year's 4A title game.

Brandon Davies made a free throw with 4:51 left in the game to give the Bulldogs their first lead at 31-30. The Bulldogs kept the Rams from making a field goal the rest of the way and made enough foul shots to put the game away.

Before Davies made his foul shot, though, Highland had Provo on the ropes. The Bulldogs scored three points in the first quarter, which was a season-low point total for one quarter. They scored six points in the game's first 11 minutes and trailed by as many as seven in the first half.

The Bulldogs, however, turned to their trademark defense — and to junior Kyle Collinsworth in the second half — to rescue them. Collinsworth scored 12 of his game-high 17 points after halftime, and he also collected six rebounds, dished four assists and had two steals.

"Collinsworth was just awesome tonight," Drury said. "In the second half, he just took the game over and did what he needed to do. There are probably guys as tough as Collinsworth, but I don't know if anybody's tougher."

Collinsworth scored on a tip-in to tie the game at 21-21, and he also made shots to tie it at 23-23 and 30-30. Without his clutch plays, the Bulldogs probably would have been done for the season. Provo's other star, Davies, had a subpar game, scoring just nine points while shooting 1-of-7 from the field.

"I just wanted to make some big plays for my team. That's my job," Collinsworth said. "I'm one of the leaders on the team."

Collinsworth and players such as Andy Isom helped Provo take control of the game with their defense. The Bulldogs forced Highland to commit 16 turnovers and allowed the Rams to take just 10 shots in the second half. After Davies gave Provo its first lead, the Bulldogs forced the Rams to commit turnovers on three of their next five possessions.

"We're a tough team," Collinsworth said. "That's what we turned to in a game like this — defense."

Although Davies didn't have a spectacular game, he had five steals and sank some important foul shots down the stretch. Sophomore Nate Fakahafua led Highland with 14 points and six rebounds. Spenser Bowen had 10 points for the Rams.

E-mail: aaragon@desnews.com