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PROVO — Hunter Bailey had scored 33 points for Provo High School in a must-win home game against Salem Hills, the final regular-season home contest for the Bulldogs under head coach Craig Drury.
But the game was still tied at 74-74 with less than a minute on the clock. As soon as he got the ball at the top of the key, Bailey knew what he had to do.
He passed.
Bailey’s pass found an open Chase Piggott in the left corner, and the 6-foot-1 senior swished a 3-pointer that clinched a 77-74 win Friday night and the Bulldogs’ passage to the Class 4A state tournament.
“Chase Piggott hit a big, big shot and I appreciate him hitting that shot,” said Drury, who will retire as Provo’s head coach following the season. “Hunter gave him a great pass. It’s just another game, and every time I play Salem Hills, it seems like we play that type of game. It doesn’t matter if we’re 10-0 or 0-10, we get that kind of game.”
Piggott finished the evening with 12 points, and Braxton Bailey added 14 more for the Bulldogs.
Every time I play Salem Hills, it seems like we play that type of game. It doesn't matter if we're 10-0 or 0-10, we get that kind of game.
–Provo coach Craig Drury
The Bulldogs took a 44-37 lead into halftime, but the Skyhawks roared out of the locker-room break, eventually taking a game-high lead of 55-48 on a dunk by Southern California football signee Porter Gustin with 1:11 left in the third quarter.
With the clock nearly expired on the third period, Gustin drew a technical foul while arguing over another Salem Hills foul to award four free throws to Bailey, who knocked down all four to tie the game at 54-54 before Nathan Kuchin’s buzzer-beating alley-oop off the inbounds pass gave Provo a 56-54 lead going into the final quarter.
“I would’ve rather won by 50. I’m thinking about that,” Drury said dryly. “Tell me a coach who wouldn’t rather win by 50 than one shot.”
The final quarter saw two more technical fouls, one on Provo’s Connor O’Neill that gave the Skyhawks a 56-54 lead at the start of the quarter, and another on the Salem Hills coaching staff after Bailey brought Provo back into the lead at 62-60 with a stick-back basket with 6:52 left in the game.
Salem Hills’ Gustin collected his fifth foul with seven minutes left in the game, finishing with a team-high 25 points for the Skyhawks. James Nelson added 18 points for Salem Hills.
Bailey then drove to the rim for a wide-open layup with 2:08 left to tie the game at 74-74, setting up Piggott’s final shot.
Provo, which finished 7-5 in Region 8 play, will be the fourth seed from the region at next week’s state tournament. The Bulldogs know that spot well — they also qualified as the No. 4 seed in 2004 — a year Drury won one of his state-record eight championships as a head coach.
