Cowboys end season at regionals

MEEKER | The Meeker boys’ basketball season came to an end last Friday in Gunnison at the Western Slope Regional tournament after losing 53-56 to the Norwood Mavericks. The Cowboys finished the regular season as the Northwest League’s second seed, with a 15-8 record, a regional playoff berth and they did it all without a senior on the team.
“Without a senior on this year’s team, things look promising for us next year,” Meeker head coach Klark Kindler said.
Against the Mavericks, the Cowboys took a 13-12 lead after the first quarter and led 24-21 at the end of the first half. The Cowboys outscored the Mavericks by two in the third quarter, to lead by five with one quarter to play, in a game where only the winner would advance.
“We made some mistakes that plagued us this year and they caught up to us Friday,” coach Kindler said. “All year we have hit dry spells in games when we have a chance to up our lead and we go six or seven possessions without scoring and letting the other team stick around. We did it again Friday and this time it caught up to us.”
The Mavericks outscored the Cowboys by eight points in the final quarter to win the game by three.
Meeker junior Logan Hughes led the team with 16 points, including two from behind the three-point arch and nine rebounds, while classmate Zach Dinwiddie also finished in double figures with 13 and five rebounds. Eli Newman scored nine, Doak Mantle added seven, Valentine Rosas scored five points in the final basketball game of his junior year, Stephen Walsh added two and Jerrick Garza made a free throw. Mantle and Rosas each made a three-pointer in the final game of the season.
“We need to continue to improve,” coach Kindler said of the off season. “These guys have great attitudes and they are a blast to coach.”