Friday night in Meeker the hometown Cowboys jumped out to a quick 18-7 lead over the visiting Cowboys from Colbran. Cooper Smith started the Black and Gold out with six of his game high 22 points in the first quarter. Meeker’s defense was able to hold the visitor’s most prolific scorer, Grundy, to only two points in the first half. Meanwhile, Meeker continued scoring, with 14 more in the second period for a 17-point lead at the intermission.
The third quarter was more Meeker as Trey Morris unleashed three long range bombs for nine of Meeker’s 19 third quarter points. As the quarter ended, Meeker held a commanding 26-point lead 51-25. Substituting freely in the fourth, Meeker scored eight while Plateau Valley closed the gap slightly with a 17-point stanza. Meeker’s lead proved to be too much as the game ended with a 59-42 hometown Cowboys Victory. Meeker’s defense held Plateau’s Grundy who had been averaging 26 points per game to 17 points, nine below his average.
Whether it was the three-hour bus ride, an emotional letdown from the night before, or the fact that they were playing a Paonia team that was only 1-6 on the season, Meeker had their hands full with a scrappy Eagle team Saturday. Locked in a good battle, Meeker could only get two players to score as Smith and Morris accounted for all of Meeker’s first quarter points with 10 and five points respectively. Meanwhile, Paonia was hanging close with 12 of their own for a 15-12 first period score. Paonia matched the Cowboy offensive output in the second as each team scored 16. Smith and Morris again provided the majority of the Cowboy offense while six Eagles got in on the act. Paonia was hanging tough with the Cowboys as the first half ended with Meeker holding a slight 31-30 lead. The third quarter turned out to be the “Smith” show as Cooper, Gable, and Scott all posted points for the ‘Pokes in their 18-point output. Paonia tied up the game, countering with 19 quarter points of their own. In the fourth, Morris counted six while Cooper, Gable and Scott combined for eight and Jeremy Muxlow scored four.
Meeker’s 18 points couldn’t be matched by the Eagles’ 13 and the Cowboys eked out a slim 67-63 victory. Cooper Smith led all scorers in the game with 31 and Trey Morris counted 20 more for the Cowboys.
This weekend, Meeker will host Vail Mountain, and will travel to Rangely for a non-conference match with their cross-county rivals.
Meeker 18 14 19 8 59
Plateau Valley 7 8 10 17 42
Meeker
C. Smith 4,3,6,5-22, A. Smith 0,0,3,1-1, Lopez 1,0,0,0-2, Eli 1,0,0,0-2, Morris 1,3,2,2-13, Walsh 0,0,2,1-1, G. Smith 3,1,3,1-10, Mobley 3,0,4,2-8
Plateau Valley
Eberhard 3,0,4,2-8, Grundy 5,1,8,4-17, Smith 4,2,0,0-14, Enriquez 1,0,2,1-3
Meeker 15 16 18 18 67
Paonia 12 18 19 13 63
Meeker
C. Smith 10,2,5,5-31, S. Smith 3,0,2,0-6, Musgrave 2,0,0,0-4, Morris 6,2,2,2-20, G. Smith 2,0,5,2-6.
Paonia
Katzer 4,0,2,0-8, Roeber 4,0,5,3-11, Walters 53,4,2-21, Anderson 1,1,4,3-8, Linnell 0,0,4,2-2, Ford 2,0,8,6-10
