Combine tall rebounders and players always looking to run the fast break on every ball they pick up and that can be a lethal combination. That is exactly the game-plan that North Summit enforced in Grantsville.

It didn’t help much that Grantsville got off to a slow start offensively either as the Cowboys fell at home Wednesday night to North Summit 64-50.

Alex Childs and Cody Colson shared team-high scoring honors with 14 points apiece for Grantsville. The visiting Braves were led by Colby Richins, who dropped in 17 points.

Simply knowing that North Summit would come out running was only half the battle for the Cowboys, stopping them proved to be a completely different story.

“They are tall, athletic kids and their jumping ability helped them get offensive rebounds,” said Grantsville head coach Shane Heath. “We knew what they were going to do against us and they still had success.”

The fast break helped the Braves jump out to a 14-2 lead to open the game, behind 6 points from Richins, who helped dig a big hole for Grantsville to start the game.

GHS suffered a blow in the first quarter but they did not go down without a fight. Three Cowboys helped bring the game closer as Jacob Clonts, Ben Tripp and Childs all hit baskets to close out the quarter on a 6-2 run to bring the game within 16-8 at the end of the first.

The offense continued to click for Grantsville to start the second quarter. Five straight points from Childs brought the Cowboys within 16-13, but then North Summit took control.

North Summit took momentum right out of the hand of the Cowboys. A 14-2 run by the Braves again sparked by Richins and his 7 points during the run, help the Braves double up the Cowboys 30-15.

A Colson jumper in the low post and a 3-pointer by Austin Cunliffe helped Grantsville, but the Cowboys still found themselves trailing 34-20 at half-time.

The Cowboys looked to be the aggressors on offense in the second half. Instead of passing around the perimeter, they got their open shots a lot quicker and did not pass up on the opportunity. Unfortunately, for Grantsville, the shots were not dropping as often as they would of liked.

A team effort from GHS with a basket each from Josh Harrison, Tripp and Clonts helped spark a 6-2 run late in the third quarter to bring the game to 45-32. From there it didn’t get much better as North Summit rattled off six straight points to head to the final quarter up 51-32.

A big reason for the runs that North Summit continued to construct was because of their relentless crashing of the rebounds. “We didn’t start out boxing them out real well,” said Heath. “We got better but still gave up key offensive rebounds to them.”

In fact a high-flying dunk from Caden Richins gave the visiting Braves a 25-point lead mid-way through the fourth quarter, deflating the slim hopes of any comeback.

The Cowboys did finish the game on a 12-4 run to bring the final score to 64-50, against an athletic North Summit team.

Normal starter Jake Roberts was out with a wrist injury to join Austin Gumucio on the list of injured Cowboys, but coach Heath didn’t use that as an excuse. “It would of been helpful to have those two guys in there but that is not the reason we lost,” said Heath.

Grantsville (1-4) will take their shot at South Summit when they host them on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com