MHS boys win two, lose to Rangely

MEEKER I The Meeker High School boys’ basketball team came out of the holiday break strong, winning both their games last Friday and Saturday. The Cowboys traveled to Hotchkiss Friday night and beat the Bulldogs 52-37. The game was competitive throughout but the Cowboys’ ability to have multiple team members score proved to be be too much for Hotchkiss. Meeker played solid defense combined with discipline on offense to put the game away.
“We were much better offensively coming out of the Christmas break,” said Meeker coach Klark Kindler. The team continued their post-vacation success with a decisive win over Paonia. The Cowboy offense effectively put an impressive 62 points on the board. The team demonstrated once again they can spread the ball around and several members contributed to the win Saturday. The Cowboy defense held the Eagles to 49 points, giving Meeker the 13 point victory.
“I thought we did a lot of good things this weekend,” Kindler added.
The team went on the road to Rangely Tuesday night. The Cowboys had difficulty scoring in the first quarter with the score tied four to four. They took a lead into halftime and kept it throughout the game but turnovers and a slow pace kept the game close. At the end of the half it was 13-9 and going into the fourth quarter the game was 21-17.
Rangely battled in the final eight minutes but tough defense from both sides seemed to keep scoring at a minimum. A three pointer by Cory Evans with two seconds to go gave the Panthers their first and final lead. The Cowboys lost 27-26. They look to get back on track as they begin league play this weekend. They play West Grand Friday night and travel to Walden to play North Park on Saturday, beginning their league play. The team looks to be on top of the league again this year. With their well planned and practiced offense and unrelenting defense indicative of the Meeker boys’ teams, this regular season play will be exciting and competitive.