Ladies lose at home, win away

MEEKER I Meeker’s lady Cowboys rallied against the Paonia Eagles for a loss Friday, Feb. 10, and traveled to Oak Creek Saturday to beat the Soroco Rams. Both games were slow starts for Meeker.
The match with the Eagles was for the first place position in the conference. Paonia shot out in a seven point lead until mid-quarter when the lady Cowboys answered with seven of their own. Then the Eagles pulled ahead as Meeker struggled to find the rim. Paonia led by 14 (9-23) at the end of the quarter. Meeker bucketed 10 points to Paonia’s two as the lady Cowboys closed the gap to a six point margin midway through the second period, 19-25. The momentum swung again and Paonia knocked down 18 points while Meeker could only hit a foul shot leaving the score 20-44 at the half.
In the third quarter, Meeker fired in 12 points to Paonia’s 10, but the lady Cowboys were still down by 22 to start the final eight minutes of the ballgame. With their tenacious full-court pressure the lady Cowboys were far from giving in as they held the Eagles to four points while making 18 in only three and half minutes. This closed the gap to 11 points. Paonia hit a three and Meeker answered with a three of their own and dished in six more. With three minutes and 34 seconds left on the clock, the Lady Cowboys were only down five points, 54-59. At this point, a frustrated Paonia team began to stall and Meeker was forced to foul. Struggling at the line earlier in the game, the Eagles now found the rim and hit their final 10 foul shots to seal the game 55-71 Paonia.
Sophomore Taylor Neilson led with 21, sophomore Aly Ridings and junior Kaysyn Chintala each dished in 11, senior Aubrey Walsh added five, sophomore Piper Haney made three, while senior Kathryn Doll and freshman Sydney Hughes each tossed in a bucket.
On the road Saturday, the lady Cowboys again struggled to buy a basket, and the Rams took a first quarter 6-20 lead. Meeker finally opened up the bucket and dished in 20 points while only allowing Soroco to score seven. The first half ended 26-27, Soroco.
The third period was a 10 point game for both teams. In the final quarter, the lady Cowboys narrowly edged their opponents as they won 44-43. Hughes and Neilson each added 13, Doll bucketed six, Ridings dished in five, Chintala hit a three, Walsh added two and juniors Kacey Collins and Katie Dinwiddie both knocked in a free throw.
Meeker’s junior varsity fared the same as the varsity in their weekend contests. Friday night showed a loss to Paonia’s JV team and Saturday they defeated the junior varsity Rams in Soroco. The lady Cowboys host Rangely on Friday, Feb. 17 and then travel to Kremmling for a game against the West Grand Mustangs. These games mark the last of regular season play for the lady Cowboys.