BMS 8th-graders win tournament championship

MEEKER I After defeating Steamboat Springs in the semifinals Saturday at the new Meeker Elementary School, the Barone Middle School eighth-grade girls battled for a 20-19 victory over Craig to win the league championship.
Meeker took an early lead, jumping out by five in the game against Steamboat. The Sailors couldn’t buy a bucket and the Cowboys’ press made it difficult for their opponents to even see their end of the court. A productive third quarter had the Cowboys boasting 21 points to Steamboat’s two. The girls put it in cruise control to win 24-7 in the first round of tournament play.
The championship game proved to be more of a challenge for Meeker but they got the upper hand to win by a point in the last minute of the game.
The first quarter was a defensive battle as the teams deadlocked at one bucket each. Outscored four to seven in the second quarter, Meeker headed into halftime behind. Meeker came out fighting and once again everyone tightened up their defense with both teams managing to score four each in the third quarter.
Coach Kris Casey commented that at this point, “I truly believe they like to scare me! Every game against Craig the girls have had to make a comeback to win, keeping everyone on the edge of their seats.”
The Lady Cowboys finally turned the tables late in the fourth quarter as Sydney Hughes had a steal and a layup. Overall, Hughes scored eight, Mckenna Kummer dropped in six, Brittany Smith put in four and Megan Parker added a bucket.
“All in all, the girls played a very tough game,” Casey said. “Things got a little rough but the girls held their own and played their type of game. I was very proud of them and how hard they played this season.”
Meeker’s eighth-grade B team didn’t come out on top with their one point loss but they certainly closed the gap from their previous 21-12 loss to Steamboat, ending this tournament game 17-18.
Casey said she was “proud of the improvement they had made.”
After a day of games at Barone Middle School, the Meeker seventh-grade A team couldn’t quite pull off a win. They started the tournament against Craig with two quick buckets from Sarah Gerloff but the Bulldogs soon had a string of layups. The Cowboys fell behind and couldn’t recover. Teammate Sheala Abbott added another basket in the third for the girls’ final six points, which ended with a 39-6 loss.
The Lady Cowboys’ second game against Steamboat saw a few more baskets but not enough to pull off the win. Losing 32-9, they ended up fourth in the tournament. Even when they were behind, Meeker worked together and kept on fighting.
Coach Nicole Dupire noted that the girls “have improved greatly from the beginning of the season. They were doing a lot of good things towards the end of the season.”