2A boys high school basketball: Richins lifts North Summit to another title

CEDAR CITY — A paramount goal for North Summit in facing South Sevier was grab momentum quickly.

The Braves fell behind early in their semifinal victory over Rowland Hall and it did not sit too well with anyone in the locker room after the fact.

"We came out slow against Rowland Hall and almost lost there," senior forward Colby Richins said. "We weren't going to make the same mistake twice."

Richins did his part to make sure the Braves didn't repeat that piece of history against the Rams. He scored all but eight of North Summit's first-half points and finished with a game-high 22 points to lead the Braves to a 48-41 victory over South Sevier in the 2A boys basketball championship game at SUU on Saturday night.

It is North Summit's second state title in three years. Both championships were won at Centrum.

The Rams could do little to stop Richins in the first half. He scored four of the Braves' first five baskets — highlighted a driving layup that put North Summit up 12-7 in the final minute of the first quarter.

When Seth Taft scored on three straight possessions — making a jumper, a 3-pointer and a layup — to tie it at 16-16, Richins went into action again and drained a jumper that put North Summit in front again. He added a pair of free throws to make it 20-16 with 1:24 left before halftime.

Richins continued terrorizing the Ram defense in the third quarter. He hit four more free throws and put back his own missed layup to give the Braves a 28-22 lead. That opened the door for twin brother Caden, who scored seven straight points to extend that advantage to 35-24 by quarter's end.

Both brothers are part of a senior core — along with Deven Holmes, Bryer Trussell, Devin Fristrup and Wes Richins — that has mastered the art of winning state titles during their high school careers.

They claimed both a football and basketball title in 2007. Another football title followed last fall. And now they have a second championship in basketball to add to that tally.

"They know how to win and they've been doing it since they were freshman," North Summit coach Jerre Holmes said. "You get that in your blood and you get pretty hungry for it."

Still, South Sevier didn't make it easy to put them away in the fourth quarter. After Trussell hit a pair of free throws to make it 37-24, Taft drained a 3-pointer to ignite a 13-5 run.