Only two 4A teams have figured out how to do it, and both of those teams have been elminated from the championship.
Beating Murray and Provo has been so difficult this year that it seems fitting the Spartans and Bulldogs meet in tonight's 4A title game.Murray entered the tournament with the best record in 4A (18-2). The Spartans only setbacks were at Spanish Fork , and against Bountiful . Murray's now won 18 games in a row heading into the finals.
Provo has won 14 of its last 15 games. The Bulldogs dropped a pair of preseason games to 5A teams in Mountain View and Brighton. The only 4A loss for Provo was the last region game of the year at Timpview.
"It should make for a great championship game," said Murray coach Gordon Kener. "When you get two teams with the kind of records with the schedules we've played it comes down to who will step it up and who will lead."
Both teams had to survive quarterfinal scares to arrive in the finals. Murray used a Jeff Johnsen last-second shot to nip East and Provo used a Kris Cox shot with two seconds left in the game to get past Box Elder.
Cox and Johnsen have had the hottest hands on their teams. Johnsen leads the Spartans in scoring for the tournament with an 18 point average, while hitting on 52 percent of his shots.
Jordan Greenwell has also had a hot hand for Murray. Greenwell's averaged 10 points per game and hit on 58 percent of his shots from the field.
Cox, Provo's leading scorer on the year, leads the Bulldogs in scoring for the tournament with a 15.3 point average. Cox is also Provo's best 3-point shooter. He's hit on 4-of-7 of his 3-point attempts.
As a team Provo only shot better than 50 percent from the field in one of its three games and for the tournament is shooting just 46 percent.
Murray on the other hand has shot over 50 percent from the field in all three of its games.
The Spartans have outrebounded their opponents 93-63, while the Bulldogs hold just an 80-73 lead.
Provo makes up for it in free-throw shooting. The Bulldogs are shooting 75 percent, compared to 65 percent for Murray.
Game time is 7 p.m. in the Dee Events Center.