Cowboy senior Zagar Brown. | TIFFANY JEHOREK PHOTO
MEEKER I The Cowboys made it to the sweet 16 last weekend before their 16-7 season was ended by Limon.
In the first game of regionals the Cowboys played Fowler, a team none of the boys on the Meeker team had played before. With a final score of 49-43 it was a battle to the end.
“They came out and jumped on us early,” said head coach Klark Kindler. “We had problems guarding their pick and roll offense. It didn’t take us by surprise, we knew what they were going to do, but they were quicker and more athletic than what they looked like on film.”
At the half the Cowboys went to the locker room up three, 26-23, and were able to maintain the lead for the rest of the game. The Cowboys struggled defending their pick and roll and got down 19-10 in the first quarter and looked towards their defense to offset the game.
“We knew they struggled against the zone so we switched to the zone, it worked, and they struggled the last three quarters offensively,” said Kindler. “I am not big into zone defense as I am a man guy but sometimes you have to, we also zoned against Limon and our zone was very effective, especially against Fowler.”
The win against Fowler on Friday meant the Cowboys had made it to the sweet 16 and looked to battle Limon to make it to the elite eight.
The Meeker and Limon crowds were ready for a good game.
“Limon’s gym is similar to ours, you get 10 people in there and it sounds like 500 and when you get 500 in there, you can imagine the atmosphere,” commented Kindler. ”Meeker always travels well, regardless of the sport. Both teams had success this year and that does not matter. Our people travel and watch the teams and it is a great place to coach and live in.”
The Cowboys beat the Badgers on the board but it was immediately answered.
“We played well against Limon,” began Kindler about the final game of the 2021-2022 season. “I borrowed something from what the colleges do. I told our guys that we were going to play the game in four minute segments and we had to match them and stay with them in four minute segments.”
Meeker was up by four going into the half, but in the second half they were only able to score 14 points.
“We did a really good job in the first half, we had a lead at half time and would have taken it any day,” commented Kindler, “and in the second half they turned up their defense and we only had a 14 point half.”
Against Calhan the Badgers had three quarters scoring nearly to or surpassing 20 points.
“Defensively we stayed with them and did a really good job stopping their transition game,” said Kindler. ”The night before they played Calhan and ran the break well and were quick and we were able to stop the easy baskets.”
Limon brought the biggest guy on their roster off of the bench early in the second quarter, and their combined height exceeded that of the Cowboys.
“We knew with their size we would not be able to get a lot of offensive rebounds,” wrapped up Kindler. “Zagar did a great job guarding the biggest kid that came off of the bench, and he is one of the best post defenders I have ever coached.”
This year’s seniors were Chakwah Brink, Zagar Brown, Liam Deming, Peter Hanks, and Zach Simonsen. They will be returning two starters and with so much contribution from the bench remaining, Kindler is planning on an excellent season for 2022-2023.
By TIFFANY JEHOREK – Special to the Herald Times
