High school boys basketball: Friday’s 4A semifinal recap, Provo and Hurricane each earn 1st championship appearance in over a decade

Here’s a recap of the 4A boys basketball state tournament semifinals at Weber State on Friday, with No. 1 Provo and No. 6 Hurricane winning to advance to Saturday’s championship.

Hurricane 65, Timpanogos 60

Hurricane head coach Adam Stout had a hunch that Timpanogos would give his Tigers opportunities to score from distance in Friday’s 4A semifinal.

So, Hurricane made sure to get shots up early and often. Luckily for the Tigers, Stout’s hopes were proved right as they sank eight 3-pointers in the first half in a convincing 65-60 victory over Timpanogos.

The shotmaking was crucial for Hurricane as leading scorer Brigham Kemp struggled with foul trouble in the first half.

“Super happy with the way our boys battled, the way we shot,” Stout said. “We kind of figured they would give us 3s in the game, and fortunately, we were able to hit them.

“That was the biggest thing, I thought, since not having Brig sit out was tough on us, but I think those threes helped us live through that.”

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The Tigers’ 10-point lead at halftime was important as Timpanogos was one of the hottest teams in the state heading into Friday’s game.

The Timberwolves opened the season with a five-game losing streak and sat with a 7-12 season record late, but they won six consecutive games to get into the 4A semifinal.

Timpanogos’ Jaxen McCuistion has also been a lethal weapon, which was evident in his 32 points on Friday.

Despite that, Hurricane kept one step ahead of Timpanogos and held a massive 17-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Then, McCuistion and Timpanogos made one last championship effort.

McCuiston connected on back-to-back 3s, got to the free-throw line and scored on some putbacks to bring Timpanogos back within eight late in the fourth quarter.

He scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth.

“He’s a top player in the state,” Stout said. “He’s the one who kept me up all night. We just told them, ‘We got to make it tough. He’s not going to hit everything.’”

Hurricane struggled to score in the halfcourt in the fourth, but it capitalized at the line to keep its lead and the victory. Kemp especially was big in the second half, scoring 15 points while in foul trouble.

He finished with a team-high 20 points.

Lincoln Stout also provided shotmaking for the Tigers, scoring 15 points on five 3-pointers.

Friday’s win means Hurricane will be making its first trip to the state championship game since it won it all in 2012.

“We’re so proud of it, representing this community,” said Adam Stout. “Hurricane is still a community, hasn’t been broken up yet by other schools.

“We just have a ton of support, and they’re just so awesome coming out for everything. It means a ton for us to make it.”

Provo 50, Dixie 46

The last time the Provo Bulldogs were in the 4A state championship game, the likes of former BYU stars Kyle Collinsworth and Brandon Davies were on the roster.

That team won the state championship in 2008 and had a championship appearance in 2009.

Provo has not been back to the championship game since then. That is, until it beat No. 5 Dixie 50-46 in Friday’s 4A semifinal.

It’s gotten back to the championship with Collinsworth’s older brother, Chris Collinsworth (who also played at BYU), at the helm.

“That’s been the goal the whole time is, ‘How do we get back here?’” Chris Collinsworth said. “Obviously, winning is the ultimate goal, but the winning culture and these kids understanding that Provo High, we take basketball seriously and we want to be a winning culture. Obviously, we haven’t done anything yet. We got to go win tomorrow.”

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Defense is what got it done for Provo Friday. After it took the lead, it never gave it back. The Bulldogs clogged up passing lanes and made it difficult for Dixie to get into the paint, resulting in a 23-17 lead at halftime.

In particular, Provo made sure Dixie’s leading scorer, Collin Simmons, didn’t get anything easy. Simmons averages over 19 points per game, but the Bulldogs held him to just six.

“Bulldog D, that’s where we pride ourselves in, is playing defense,” Collinsworth said. “Credit to our guys that did a really good job of getting out there and giving maximum effort, and good things happen when you play defense with maximum effort.”

It looked like Provo was about to break away early in the third quarter after it opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run for a 14-point lead, but Dixie responded with an eight-point run of its own.

Offense wasn’t easy for Provo, but it got most of its scoring done by committee. Callen Tollestrup led the Bulldogs with 17 points, Lucas Castagnetto had 10 and Gehrig Orchard, Griffin DeMartini and Makai Allen each added seven.

Provo never surrendered the lead in the second half, but Dixie fought to the end. Asher Spence had multiple clutch buckets for the Flyers and scored 12 points in the fourth quarter to bring it within three points with under a minute to go.

However, Provo played calmly and put Dixie away for its first championship appearance in 17 years.

“Dixie’s a good team,” Collinsworth said. “They made some adjustments, and desperate teams are scary. When you start hucking threes and credit to Asher, he knocked down some big shots.

“Our guys also knocked down some big shots, got some rebounds, made some free throws and winning ugly is oftentimes how you got to win the big ones.”