Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

Provo head boys basketball coach Chris Collinsworth admits that sometimes he looks into the eyes of his Bulldogs and see a glimpse of the young Chris Collinsworth who wore the same green jersey from 2002-07.

“I love these kids,” Collinsworth said Tuesday night. “They make it fun. You forget how young 15, 16, 17, 18-years-old is. They are so much farther along than I was. Coach (Craig) Drury wanted to kill me every day and I have to remind myself of that. I didn’t know half the things back then that I’m saying and teaching now.”

Looking at it from the other direction, what do his players see from Collinsworth?

“The word I would use is intense,” Provo senior guard Aaron Castagnetto said. “He loves me but he’s going to scream every word. It’s how he’ll show his love.”

Castagnetto grinned as he talked about a moment with Collinsworth from the first half of the high school season that stood out.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

“If I score a basket, he’ll be happy for me but it’s when I do the defensive things that he really gets excited,” Castagnetto said. “When we played Timpview, I took a charge and I was walking down the bench during the game and I gave him a high five, gave all the coaching staff and all the bench high fives. It was really cool just to know that he has my back.”

Some players always dream of coaching, but that wasn’t really what Collinsworth had in mind. He’s not complaining about how things have turned out, however.

“I’m just super grateful,” Collinsworth said. “I had zero plans of being a high school coach or a head coach. I’m just really, really grateful I can be here. It’s amazing being with these guys.

Winning is fun, so it feels good. Getting Ws is a little extra bonus.”

There have been ups and downs for his Bulldogs during the first half of the 2023-24 season and it shows in Provo’s 9-6 record.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

“I’ve learned I don’t know anything,” Collinsworth said. “You’re just going game by game. We have a plan and a big picture but at the end of the day, we’ve lost games because of me. There are things that I didn’t know that I hopefully know now. It’s a really humbling experience when it’s not you on the court. It’s them and you’re just trying to put them in the best position to win.”

But the Bulldogs got the Region 8 slate started with a bang Tuesday night as they surged to an early lead at home against a good Timpanogos team and never allowed the Timberwolves to rally as Provo won, 56-46.

“We played hard,” Collinsworth said. “We played with the type of effort that we want and expect every game. But they played really hard and that’s why we won.”

Castagnetto pointed to how the Bulldog defense was on point as the key to victory.

“Honestly that’s the best we’ve played in a while,” Castagnetto said. “Our offensive game was not on but the defensive game was definitely on. We had very good energy from the very beginning. I think what won us the game was defense.”

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

Collinsworth talked about how Provo had focused in practice on improving the little things and how rewarding it was to see the players take that to heart and do them in a big game.

“A lot of time it’s just being in a stance, communicating, taking a charge,” Collinsworth said. “And you could see today that they did that. It’s incredible.”

He explained that as a coach, there are nagging fears that he might let his guys down by not preparing them right.

“We’re not perfect, right?” Collinsworth said. “You’re always worried you aren’t teaching them the right way or the right things. Then the other side is they’ve got to grasp it, and then be willing to execute it. It feels really, really good when all those things magically come together because it takes all of us.”

Castagnetto said Collinsworth acknowledging that he is learning and growing helps prevent him from beating himself up about mistakes.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

“It definitely gives me confidence knowing that he’s not perfect either,” Castagnetto said. “We’re all just learning together while growing.”

The Bulldog senior said he’s enjoying the experience of having an amazing player as a mentor.

“He’s a player I watched growing up at BYU, along with his brother Kyle,” Castagnetto said. “It’s really, really cool to have him as our coach now. He never even wanted to be a coach but now he’s all in. It’s a really, really cool feeling to be coached by one of the greats.”

Collinsworth said he is already savoring the moments, like the thrilling overtime win over Timpview earlier in the season and Tuesday’s big victory over Timpanogos.

“Here in the first game of region we needed to do a lot of things right,” Collinsworth said. “We were facing on paper the best team in our region. This was a huge moment for us. I’m super-proud of our guys.”

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

Now the goal for the Bulldogs is to just keep getting better as the season progresses.

“The biggest thing is to play exactly how we played tonight,” Castagnetto said. “In the past, we’ve struggled with coming out strong in the first half. Tonight that was not the case at all. I think if we continue to play like that every game, we will be a really good team and a hard team to beat.”

Provo next hosts Payson on Friday at 7 p.m.

Provo senior Aaron Castagnetto drives to the basket during the Region 8 game against Timpanogos at Provo on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.

Timpanogos senior Noah Curtis goes up for a shot during the Region 8 game at Provo on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.

Timpanogos head coach Golden Ingle (right) talks to his team during the Region 8 game at Provo on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.

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