CHIP BROWN PHOTO
MEEKER | Meeker wrapped up a very successful 2018-2019 season with a couple of nail-biters at the Colorado State Basketball Tournament.
After a long trip over the mountains, Meeker faced off against Del Norte Thursday morning at the Budweiser Event Center in Loveland, Colo.
Megan Shelton opened the scoring with a three-pointer as both teams showcased their offensive firepower, putting up 36 points in the first quarter for a Cowboys 19-17 lead.
The Cowboys offense cooled off in the second quarter while the Tigers continued to heat up. Del Norte took their first lead of the game early in the second quarter, 23-21. The Cowboys regained the lead a few moments later with a three-pointer from Kirsten Brown, but it was short-lived. Del Norte scored another bucket to take the lead 25-24, a lead the Tigers would not relinquish until the fourth quarter.
Going into the locker room at halftime, the score was 39-28 Del Norte. In the third quarter, Meeker’s defense slowed down the Tiger offense, holding them to nine points; allowing the Cowboys to close the gap to 45-43 late in the third quarter, but once again Del Norte turned it around to be up at quarter’s end 48-43.
The fourth quarter saw the Cowboys rally, tying the game at 48-48 and 50-50 but the Tigers responded and late in the fourth quarter were on top 61-56. Meeker gained momentum, scoring a quick five points to tie the game late at 61-61.
A traveling call against the Tigers with about 20 seconds left was negated by a Cowboy turnover with 10 seconds left. Del Norte drove the court and scored the winning bucket off a rebound as time ran out, winning 63-61. Del Norte continued on in the tournament to take third place overall.
On Friday, the Cowboys faced off against the Heritage Christian Eagles. The Eagles defense was tough and proved that the 2A bracket was tough from top to bottom, holding Meeker to five points in the first quarter and 31 points in the game. Despite the Eagles defense, Meeker owned leads at halftime (15-14) and at the end of the third quarter (25-20). Heritage Christian battled late into the fourth quarter to close the gap to 31-30 (Meeker).
As time appeared to run out, whistles at the buzzer sounded. A traveling call by the Eagles was overruled, a foul was called on the Cowboys, and 0.4 seconds was put back on the clock. The Eagles shooter sank both free throws and with the Cowboys out of timeouts, the clock ran out on the ensuing inbound pass for a one point Cowboy loss, 32-31.
With a final season record of 23-3, it is the best season for head coach Jamie Rogers’ career. The Cowboys had the same record in 2013-2014.
For more photos, see page 10-11A of this week’s edition.
By Tiffany Jehorek | Special to the Herald Times
