Union totals
Field goals: 14   Free-throws: 15 -22 (68.2%)

Juab totals
Field goals: 13   Free-throws: 15 -22 (68.2%)

After squandering a double-digit second half lead, the Cougars knocked down their free throws in the final minute to pull away and advance to the 3A championship game. Katie Richens and Sarah John combined for 22 points to lead Union, with Juab's Tessa Bradford leading all scorers with 21 points.

FIRST QUARTER

3:48: Early on, Union has looked really solid and composed at both ends of the floor. Three different Cougars have scored at least a point so far to give Union an early three-point lead, 6-3.

1:55 After looking pretty good early on, the Cougars are starting to look really good. They've gone on a 13-1 run since Juab scored the game's opening basket and are making life awfully miserable for the Wasps.

End 1Q: At the end of one period of basketball, Union is in control. Guard Alexis Benson has scored six points and Katelynn Richens has added five points to propel the Cougars to an 11-point lead (17-6) through eight minutes.

SECOND QUARTER

Half: The second quarter flew by, and at the end of it, Union leads by 11 at the break, 26-15. Both teams largely traded baskets over the course of the second quarter. At halftime, Union's Katelynn Richens leads the Cougars offensively with eight points and Alexis Benson and Sarah John each have six. Star Kiz Farrer has eight points to lead Juab.

THIRD QUARTER

3:56: Union continues to do enough to hang on to its double-digit lead. The Cougars haven't been overpowering since the early going, but they are playing pretty good basketball to stay in control here.

End 3Q: With eight minutes to play, Union leads by nine points. The Cougars were leading by 14 points at 38-24 with 1:05 left in the quarter, but Juab closed the period on a 5-0 run to potentially make things interesting here in the fourth.

FOURTH QUARTER

2:38: These Juab Wasps just don't know when to quit. Written off for dead by many people inside the UVU Events Center on multiple occasions this afternoon, they've battled back to close the score within two points, 39-37, with two-and-a-half minutes to go. Forward Tessa Bradford has been particularly key for Juab, which has outscored Union 8-1 in this quarter so far.

1:00: Juab battled all the way back to tie the game at 39-39 when Bradford made a 15-footer with 2:10 to go, but at the other end, Katelynn Richens calmly sank a pair of free throws to put Union up by two points. Juab now has the ball back with exactly 60 seconds to go.

::21.7: It looks like Union is on the verge of surviving here. With 21 seconds to go, the Cougars lead by five points, having made five of their last six free throws.

Final: Things got incredibly scary for Union after it had been in control for most of the afternoon, but the Cougars did just enough down the stretch to advance to the state championship game for the first time since 2003. The Cougars will meet Richfield at 1:30 tomorrow to decide the 3A championship. Meanwhile, the end of the road finally arrived for Juab, which produced a gutty, gutty performance throughout the tournament and especially late against Union.

• Union beats gutsy Juab