Pair of wins for Lady Cowboys

MEEKER I After soundly defeating Little Snake River on Wednesday, Dec. 19, at home, the Meeker girls’ basketball team traveled to Hayden for another big win to secure a 6-0 record before taking a break for the holidays.
Wednesday’s game began as a defensive battle. With only one minute left in the first quarter, the game was a stalemate, 5-5, until senior Kaysyn Chintala sank a three-pointer with 30 seconds left on the clock. The second quarter started with juniors Piper Haney and Aly Ridings both scoring four and Taylor Neilson hitting a bucket for a 18-5 lead. The Rattlers dished one in and hit a foul shot, but Meeker’s scrappy full court press answered back. Junior Deena Norrel stole the ball and hit teammate sophomore Sydney Hughes for a layup. Hughes then sank another layup and a foul shot for a 26-8 lead for Meeker at the halftime buzzer.
The lady Cowboys hit the floor running with a 36-8 lead after four minutes into the third. Chintala stole the ball and cashed in two more layups, Ridings hit another jump shot, Neilson made four points and senior Katie Dinwiddie sank two foul shots. The lady Cowboys capitalized on running two squads of five and never let Snake River have a breath. Going into the fourth, the second squad had a 46-14 lead for the Cowboys. The fourth quarter found the Rattlers shooting at the line as the Cowboys were racking up the fouls. Meeker’s defense made up for it as Hughes scored 12, Chintala sunk 10, Neilson and Ridings both hit eight, Haney made seven, Bailey Atwood, Collins and Dinwiddie all made four and Amanda Kendall had a bucket. Meeker ran away with another big victory for their season, 59-32.

Two nights later Meeker dominated the Hayden Tigers for the second time this season. The lady Cowboys found a rhythm as their domineering full court press immediately presented Collins, Dinwiddie and Neilson a layup each within the first minute of the game. Meeker fell to a half-court defense, but the Tigers could not get the ball into play as Chintala stole it three times for easy layups, Ridings grabbed it twice for four more points, Dinwiddie hit a jumper and Neilson sunk two buckets. Finally Hayden answered with shot and a buzzer bucket, 22-4 Meeker.
The lady Cowboys settled in and continued their defensive onslaught for the rest of the game. Much like the Wednesday night game against the Rattlers they ran two squads throughout the game only this time the Cowboys kept their fouls in check. Head coach Greg Chintala asked the team to run through their offense and take only layup shots in the paint, but Meeker’s intense defense cannot be called off as they are averaging 20 steals a game. Meeker crushed the Tigers, 66-15. Kaysyn Chintala led with 12, Haney sunk 11, Ridings and Neilson both had 10, Dinwiddie and Kendall made six each, Collins cashed in four, Hughes had three and Norell and Atwood each hit a bucket. The lady Cowboys take a two week break for the holidays, then open in Hotchkiss Friday, Jan. 11 and host Paonia on Saturday, Jan 12.