Ogden » Thirty one minutes and 59 seconds had elapsed, 92 points were scored and there were hundreds of people with their hearts in their throats at the Dee Events Center on Friday. And the young man who was going to decide who won a classic showdown between Davis and Copper Hills had yet to score a point.

But that didn't matter to Davis' Blake Gardner. As a starter, Gardner had set tons of picks, played great defense and provided all the intangibles Friday. To that point, however, he had missed his only two foul shots.

The senior guard didn't miss a third.

With three tenths of a second remaining, Gardner calmly swished two free throws, lifting the Darts to a 48-46 Class 5A semifinal win over the Grizzlies. Davis will face Alta in today's final at 1:30 p.m.

"I wasn't nervous, but I didn't think the game would come down to me," Gardner said. "I just wanted to be relaxed, and make the shots. I didn't really let anything affect me."

With the win, Davis advanced to the state title game for the first time since 2002, when the Darts won the championship. They had been to the semifinal round in three of the last four years, but hadn't broken the proverbial glass ceiling.

They almost didn't against Copper Hills. The Grizzlies, missing Tyler Faalogo, their best shooter, due to injury, relied on the brilliance of 6-foot-7 senior Steve Larson, who had 14 points and eight rebounds, although he missed significant time with foul trouble. Still, Copper Hills led 13-7 after the first quarter, 39-38 heading into the final period and spent a good chunk of the game leading a Davis team that had trouble making shots.

"I thought the game was going to come down to who executed better down the stretch," Darts coach Jay Welk said. "It was tough for us offensively, but we hung in there today."

The two-headed Davis attack of Tallon Burton and Landon Horne was huge against the Grizzlies. Burton had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Horne had 14 points to go with eight rebounds. Point guard Kyle Smith had 13 rebounds and three assists to go with his eight points.

It was a good thing that the Darts rebounded well, because there were plenty to be had since they shot 30 percent from the field. Gardner was only 50 percent from the foul line, but that worked out well for Davis.

tjones@sltrib.com