Wasatch came into their opening round match-up against Grantsville as the top ranked boys basketball team in 3A and left the court Saturday night with a 28-point victory over the Cowboys.

The only surprising thing is that Wasatch was hustling around the court like they were the underdogs with nothing to lose. That hustle helped them secure a 62-34 victory in Heber City and advanced the Wasps further into the state tournament.

“We came out good defensively but we weren’t getting good shots on offense,” said Grantsville coach Shane Heath. “I talked to them before about the different gears of the season and that there is a pre-season, regular season and playoff gear. We didn’t hit the playoff gear Saturday.”

Grantsville failed to get a player in double figures in scoring as Caleb Nesbitt and Eli Hamm each totaled eight points. Dalen Erickson came off the bench for the Cowboys to score six. Wasatch was led by 13 points coming from Mike Brown as the Wasps were led to victory by a balanced scoring attack.

Wasatch jumped out to the early lead by starting the game on a 7-2 run that was capped by a layup from Matt Pelo with 2:02 left in the first quarter. Grantsville actually came out strong defensively and frustrated the Wasps but the offense never hit its stride in the first quarter.

“We never got in our set offense because of their half-court pressure,” Heath said.

Ben Tripp did make a post bucket with 55.8 seconds remaining for Grantsville to cut the Wasatch lead to 11-5 but the Wasps would tack on one more from the free throw line to lead 12-5 after one.

Grantsville cut into the Wasatch lead at the beginning of the second quarter. A 6-2 run by the Cowboys fueled by four points from Erickson slashed the Wasp lead down to 17-11 with 4:36 left in the second.

With six points coming from Hamm, Grantsville had the lead down to a manageable 21-16 for Wasatch but the Wasps closed the half on a strong note. Closing the half on an 11-1 run with a help of a 3 from Trevor Bamgartner built a 32-17 halftime lead for Wasatch.

Wasatch didn’t use much flash to build up their lead, they only focused on beating Grantsville in every quarter and the third was no different. A 10-1 run for the Wasps gave them a 44-21 lead with 2:39 left in the third. A 3-pointer by McKay Murdock helped fuel the run. Wasatch built up their lead to 47-24 heading into the fourth quarter.

Nesbitt tried helping Grantsville make the game closer with his four points in the final quarter but the game never got closer than the 23 points that the lead was at during the beginning of the quarter. Wasatch was able to drain the clock and sail to a 28-point victory to advance in the playoffs.

Grantsville was a young team this year but they did have two seniors play in their last game. “(Ben) Tripp is an emotional leader of the team and played pretty well in the post for his size,” Heath said. “Cuffle (Austin Cunliffe) has improved a lot since his freshman year and will be missed.”

Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com