High school basketball: Timpanogos opens Region 7 play with win over Provo

PROVO — The Timpanogos Timberwolves girls basketball team didn't waste any time after coming back from the Nike Tournament in Arizona to jump straight into region action and walk off with their first win, a 43-33 victory.

And one of the biggest reasons the T-Wolves now find themselves at 7-3 overall and 1-0 in Region 7 is because of BYU-bound Morgan Bailey. The 6-foot-2 senior took over early and kept things going with a nice little jumper, some great rebounding and a knack for getting herself open to deliver a nifty little lay-up.

She did it in large chunks, too, as she scored 16 of the team's first 20 points, including eight in both the first and second quarters. It was mostly due to Bailey's talent for finding the basket and some impressive team defense that gave the T-Wolves their 20-10 half-time advantage.

It wasn't just impressive defense by Timpanogos that set the tone in this game, Provo's tenacious defense kept things close early on, and the Bulldogs even held a 6-4 lead before Bailey finished off the first quarter with six straight points.

Though Bailey was completely dominating offensively for the T-Wolves in the first half, she had a little more scoring assistance in the second half, and that coupled with some tough defense by Provo's Kelly Koop on the Timpanogos center and Bailey taking to the bench midway through the fourth, held her scoring total to 25 in the game.

Alexa Anderson took up the slack, scoring six of her eight total points in the second half, and Megan Riggs finished with a total of three, all coming in the fourth quarter. Three other players scored two points each for the victors.

Meanwhile the Provo Bulldogs were counting on their own star in Ashley Kuchar to keep them in the game, as though she only scored four points in the first half, Kuchar finished with 17, including 13 and a pair of treys in the second half. Other than some solid shooting by Melaina Morales, who finished with six, the Bulldogs were also held to minimal scoring as four other players scored three points or less for Provo.

The Timberwolves take on Westlake Friday in their bid to stay undefeated in Region 7 action, while the Bulldogs take on Lehi on Friday in an effort to pick of their first win in the region.

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