MEEKER I Thoughts of an undefeated basketball season by the Meeker High School boys’ basketball team ended Saturday with a defeat by the Paonia Eagles, making for a split over the weekend as the boys had defeated Hayden by a wide margin.
The action began quickly with an offensive barrage against Hayden as the Cowboys came out in the first and second quarters in which they scored 19 points in each quarter.
The Meeker boys’ trademark defense held the Tigers to only 13 points in the first half.
Meeker finished the the game on top by a wide 63-26 margin.
Ty Dunham led all scorers with 20 points followed by Lash Atwood with 10, Raul Lopez and Cade Rowlett each with eight points, and Jake Phelan had six.
“Pain took a lot of what we have been successfully using away from us,” coach Klark Kindler said. “We also made way too many turnovers.”
The Meeker squad traveled to Paonia, where it is always a tough task to come away with a win.
A dry spell in the second quarter had the Cowboys trailing 27-17 at the half.
Meeker showed tremendous heart in the final period of the game, outscoring the Eagles 25-13, but they could only get back to within four points at the final buzzer.
Cade Rowlett led the team in scoring with 18 points, followed by Jake Phelan with 10, Ty Dunham with eight, Raul Lopez with seven, Kash Atwood added five and Logan Hughes had a bucket.
Following the weekend of play, the team is 14-1 on the season and 8-1 in league play.
“We still need a couple more wins to ensure a No. 1 or No. 2 seed at the district tournament in two weeks,” Kindler said. “If we do that, we are guaranteed moving on to the regionals.”
The boys played Rangely on Tuesday night and will round out their regular season this weekend.
