The Cowboys began their successful weekend on Thursday against the Moffat County junior varsity (Moffat County is a 4A school). Moffat County had no answer for Eli Newman, who scored 23 points in the victory.
Zack Dinwiddie added 13 points while Kash Atwood had eight, Logan Hughes had five and Doak Mantle rounded out the scoring with two.
Meeker had a big second half, outscoring the bulldogs 29-13, resulting in a 51-37 victory.
On Friday night the Cowboys were matched against Soroco (South Routt County) and the young Meeker team showed incredible composure.
Led by the lone senior on the squad, Kash Atwood, who had four three pointers and 20 total points, the Cowboys fought off a big third quarter by the Rams.
Logan Hughes did an outstanding job driving to the basket and finding open players, and he finished with 14 points.
Doak Mantle sparked the team with constant defensive pressure and several steals, resulting in layups. He had 11 points in the game and eight of those were in the fourth quarter.
Eli Newman scored in double figures again with 10, Zach Dinwiddie added five and Jerrick Garza added two. The team played team basketball from start to finish.
They had an outstanding second quarter to go into the locker room, up 34-22
The team also relied on its defense in the second half to create opportunities that led to easy layups as they won 62-52.
Saturday’s game was against a very competitive Fruita junior varsity, and Fruita is also a 4A team.
The Cowboys came out strong in the first quarter, jumping to a 16-12 lead.
The Meeker team cooled off a little in the second quarter but they were still able to hold on to a 27-22 lead at the half.
Kash Atwood once again had four three-pointers in the game and finished with 18 points to lead the Cowboys. Zach Dinwiddie had a good game, adding eight points, Logan Hughes had seven and as many assists. Doak Mantle rounded out an outstanding weekend with seven points and a handful of steals. Trapper Merrifield had four points, and Eli Newman finished with three.
Meeker came out on top 47-38 and the squad captured another Cowboy Shootout championship.
The Cowboys’ performance left Meeker fans excited about the season.
The varsity team consists of all freshmen and sophomores except for Atwood, and the team looks to be on track to be extremely competitive again this year.
Their season opener was an excellent preview of the success that has become a tradition under the helm of coach Klark Kindler.
“I am really proud of the way the guys played as a team and did what they needed to do when they needed to do it,” Kindler said. “We played some good teams and the boys responded well, particularly against the Soroco team.
“It was a good start to the season and I am hopeful of a good season ahead,” he said.
