Two heart-braking losses against two beatable teams would be the best way to describe the weekend for the Grantsville boys basketball team.

Until Delta switched to zone defense on Thursday, Grantsville matched the Rabbits basket for basket. Unfortunately, when the zone came in, Delta started to pull away for a 68-52 victory over the Cowboys in Delta.

The Park City game on Friday was just as painful to watch. In the first half, Grantsville looked like a dominant team being very physical and aggressive with the ball and took a 38-26 lead into half-time. The third quarter turned into a disaster for the Cowboys as they were shutout and saw the visiting Miners pull away for a 57-47 victory.

Cody Colson and Alex Childs managed to score in double-digits in both games. Childs dropped 26 points in both games combined while Colson added 22. Reggie Roberts scored 11 against Park City Friday.

Delta 68 — Grantsville 52

Delta started out the game in man-to-man defense and Grantsville took advantage. Damon Deavila and Colson, with four points each, helped the Cowboys jump out to an early 10-8 lead over the Rabbits.

Then, Delta switched to zone defense and the Cowboys could not get another bucket to drop the rest of the first quarter. Five different Delta players helped the Rabbits to an 11-0 run to end the quarter at 19-10.

“We need to get in the right spots when other teams get into the zone defense,” said Grantsville head coach Shane Heath. “We have to attack it more often also.”

After Roberts drove the lane for a layup with just under five minutes to play in the second, Grantsville cut the lead to 22-14, Delta racked up another impressive run on the Cowboys.

Big Nick Nissen imposed his will down low against the Cowboy post players. Nissen dropped in four key points in the 10-0 Rabbit run that left Grantsville trailing 32-14. The Cowboys became aggressive with the ball in the final minute of the second quarter and managed to cut the lead to 32-20 behind six straight free throws.

Grantsville nearly matched Delta basket for basket in the third quarter. Roberts nailed a 3-pointer to add to his five points in the quarter but Delta managed to expand their lead thanks to an explosive quarter by Josh Eliason, who scored nine points to make the lead 53-38 heading into the fourth quarter.

Trailing by 15 points with eight minutes left in the game would make a lot of teams want to give up. The Cowboys did not quit and even put a scare into the host Rabbits.

Jacob Clonts helped tremendously with a driving layup and clutch 3-pointer to help Grantsville jump out to an 8-0 run to start the fourth. Also a Colson post-move layup with a sweet kiss off the glass brought the Cowboys within 55-49.

Unfortunately, the Cowboys could not get the game any closer as Delta’s Eliason helped to ice the game with nine fourth quarter points.

Park City 57 — Grantsville 47

Childs and Roberts helped Grantsville start out the game with an impressive first quarter. Roberts started off the game with a 3-pointer and his hot shooting continued throughout the first. Childs was impressively aggressive with the ball and the visiting Miners had trouble stopping his dribble-drive.

A 9-2 run sparked by five points from Childs gave the Cowboys a 22-14 lead at the end of the first.

Colson went to work for the Cowboys down low as his hustle found himself with several shots in the paint to maintain the GHS lead. Jake Roberts nailed a jumper near the foul line with 1:11 left in the half to send Grantsville into the locker room with a 38-26 lead.

“That was probably our best half in the season so far,” said Heath. “I was pleased with the effort to begin the game.”

The third quarter is where the wheels came off for the Cowboys. Park City came out with more energy and was on fire from the 3-point line. The Miners nailed three 3-pointers with two by Alex Cohen as Grantsville failed to score in the quarter.

Grantsville was getting their shots off but they just wouldn’t go in after half-time. Park City out-scored the Cowboys 13-0 in the third but the Cowboys were not out of the game, only trailing 39-38 heading into the final quarter.

“Our offense was getting the shots through execution but could not get any of those shots to fall,” said Heath.

The Cowboys only made two buckets in the entire second half.

The fourth was a different story for the Cowboy as they scored the first three points of the quarter. They even grabbed the lead behind a driving layup from Austin Cunliffe at 41-39.

Instead of folding, Park City fought back and took the lead for good. Grantsville got within 46-44 but could not get the game any closer, mostly because of the accurate shooting free throw shooters on the Park City squad.

Even with the two losses coach Heath can see progress in every game.

“They are all learning a new system and I think they are beginning to understand it more with each game,” said Heath.

Grantsville (2-7) will next travel to Mt. Pleasant to face North Sanpete on Dec. 30 at 7 p.m.

Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com