Cowboys finish 2nd in WREA Shootout

MEEKER | After four games and just a few days of practice for Cowboy football players out for basketball the Meeker boys’ basketball team is 2-2 with a second place finish in the 2016 White River Electric Cowboy Shootout. The Cowboys will host the Grand Valley Cardinals this Friday in their final competition before the Christmas break.
The Cowboys opened the season in Silt with a 35-63 loss to the Coal Ridge Titans before defeating Hayden 66-14 in the first round of the Shootout last Thursday. Meeker then beat the Aspen Skiers 40-33 in the semifinals to advance to the championship game, where they lost 55-32 to Fruita Monument’s JV team.
“I thought we improved every game,” Meeker head coach Klark Kindler said. “Fruita’s zone caused us some problems, since we haven’t had time to work on a zone offense yet.”
Meeker junior Logan Hughes was named the tournament’s MVP and led the Cowboys with 25 points and 22 rebounds in the three games played in the WREA Shootout. Classmate Zack Dinwiddie scored 23 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in the tournament, while Doak Mantle finished with 22 and five rebounds, Valentine Rosas scored 20, Trapper Merrifield had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Eli Newman scored 17 and recorded 11 rebounds, while varsity players Kale Burke and Brennan Jensen also contributed to Meeker’s scores.
“There were a lot of good teams this year, the competition definitely increased,” Kindler said of the teams at this year’s Shootout.
The varsity is scheduled to tipoff against the Cardinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
“It will be nice to play after a full week of practice,” Coach Kindler said.