Jr. high girls open basketball season

RBC I Junior high girls’ basketball teams in the county opened their seasons last Saturday, and it was a good showing.
Especially for the eighth-grade teams.
Meeker’s Barone Middle School eighth-graders won both their A and B games, 47-14 and 15-4, respectively, against Craig, while the Rangely Junior High eighth-graders beat Steamboat Springs 22-19.
“They played a great game … all in all, I am very proud of the time and effort the eighth-graders are putting in to make themselves better and the team better,” said Meeker eighth-grade coach Debbie Henderson.
Aly Ridings scored 14 points and Taylor Neilson 11 to lead the Meeker eighth-grade A team. In the B game, Mariah Jensen scored six points and Taylor Ahrens four.
Rangely eighth-grade coach Jessica Fortunato was pleased with her team as well, which rallied for the win.
“We finished the game strong and came out with a win,” Fortunato said. “Overall, it was an amazing start to the season. We are very proud of our girls.”
Fortunato singled out Aimee Hogan as “a leader on the floor,” Hailee Russell for her “aggressiveness both offensively and defensively,” and Tessa Slagle for “her composure on the court.”
In seventh-grade action, Rangely’s A team lost 25-14, while the B team won 6-4. Aimee Hernandez scored eight points to lead the A team.
“The A team … forced Steamboat to turn over the ball multiple times. We just weren’t able to convert all of those turnovers to points,” said coach Jared Heaps. “The B team also played a very strong defense.”
Meeker’s seventh-graders lost the A game 15-13 and the B game 20-2.
“The girls played hard and got their first taste of real game play,” said coach Ivy Abshire.
County rivals Meeker and Rangely will play today at Meeker High School, starting at 4:30 p.m.