AAU basketball season ends at home

MEEKER I The Meeker AAU season came to a close Thursday night with the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade girls playing two games against Rifle and Rangely.
The sixth-grade boys played New Castle Wednesday night as a conclusion to their season. The boys played hard and kept the game close but the outstanding shooting by New Castle proved to be too much by the end of the 40 minutes.
Thursday evening began with both girls’ teams playing at 5 p.m. The combination seventh- and eighth-grade team played Rangely and jumped out to an early lead. However the coaching and composure of the Panthers kept them in the game and a late run gave them a lead with less then a minute to play. Meeker had a chance to win in the final 30 seconds but could not convert its free throws. The game was an outstanding game on both sides and was certainly a great way to end the season, showing improvement and hard work. The Rifle eighth-grade team beat both Rangely and Meeker but the playing time was valuable to both teams.
The sixth-grade team faced Rifle in their first game, a rematch of the previous weekend’s championship game. The Meeker girls came out playing great defense and trailed by only two at half. Outstanding team play forced the game into overtime and Meeker won by one in the extra session.
The team finished their season playing Rangely. Both teams played hard, showing great defensive pressure. Meeker came out on top by five points in the end.
All three teams had good seasons, playing 10 to 12 games each and gaining a great deal of court experience imperative to their future success.