Ten players score as Grantsville begins Region 11 season with 21-point shellacking of Ogden

Momentum can be a difficult force to change. Grantsville used their momentum of winning their last non-region game and a big game from Jake Roberts Friday night to start off Region 11 play with a 68-47 victory at home against Ogden.

Roberts led four Cowboys in double figures with 15 points and seven rebounds. Reggie Roberts and Alex Childs each knocked in 13 a piece while Cody Colson turned in a hard-working 10-point, eight-rebound performance. Even though he scored only four points, Damon Deavila frustrated the opposing point guard and managed five steals and four assists in the win.

Looking to open region play with a win, Grantsville came out firing right out of the starting gate. A driving lay-up by Jake Roberts less than two minutes into the game gave the Cowboys an early 6-2 advantage.

From there, Ogden took control of the quarter. The Tigers were led by Eric Porter, who hit the first two shots he took, coupled by a 3-pointer from Favian Izarraras that gave the visiting Tigers a 13-8 lead with less than two minutes remaining.

Grantsville managed to fight back to end the first quarter, with a Reggie Roberts strong drive to the hoop and lay-up, the Cowboys found themselves down only 13-12 after the first.

The second quarter belonged to Grantsville and they earned every point. Ogden could not keep up with the hard-driving Cowboys and kept sending players to the foul line. The shoddy defense backfired on the Tigers as the Cowboys drilled their first 12 free throw attempts, as free throws contributed greatly to a 14-3 run to begin the quarter.

Leading 26-16 after the run with 3:27 left in the second, Grantsville managed to hold off all attempts of cutting the lead much by half-time. The Cowboys went into the locker room with a 31-22 lead.

Offensively, coach Shane Heath feels that his team is starting to click.

“We are getting more movement on offense,” Heath said. “Also away from the ball they are starting to understand where they are suppose to be.”

Trailing by nine, Ogden came out with more defensive intensity but still had trouble stopping the balanced attack of the Cowboys. Grantsville had 10 players score in the game and that contributed to the difficulties of trying to slow down the Cowboys. Grantsville even extended their lead in the third by a 10 points, leading 43-33, heading into the final period.

In response to having 10 players score in the game, Heath was very pleased with his bench.

“I know that when I turn to the bench that we don’t miss a beat,” Heath said. “They bring a lot of energy on the court when the reserves get in.”

Ogden desperately tried cutting in the Grantsville lead and even put a little scare into the home team. A strong post move by Darinn Gomez with 3:13 left brought the Tigers within 51-45 but Jake Roberts countered with a quick lay-up on the other end. The Roberts lay-up gave Grantsville an eight point cushion and after Nik Allred clanked both of his free-throws on the other end, the game never got any closer.

“We started settling for lower quality shots,” said Heath, talking about the game getting close in the fourth. “They went to a press and we turned the ball over a few times but we held on.”

Roberts had a strong fourth quarter, making four buckets en route to his nine fourth quarter points, he shot 7-for-10 from the field in the game. Whenever Ogden got close Roberts seemed to have the answer each time.

Along with the offense starting to click, the Cowboys are starting to hit their free-throws at such a pace that any team should be wary of fouling. Grantsville made 27-of-31 free throw attempts.

Grantsville will next travel to face Ben Lomond Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com