MEEKER | Four teams made their way to Leadville, Colorado, for regional boys basketball action; Lake County, Meeker, Yuma and Bayfield were all vying for one spot into the great eight state tournament.
The Cowboys opened up with Lake County, a team which had been ranked 16 or 17 for the second half of the season but pulled off a huge victory in district play that moved them up to the number eight spot and gave them a host school opportunity. It was a busy weekend in Leadville for the tourney with a skijor event, one of the biggest in the state, and teams traveling from large distances.
Meeker did not come out as strong as Lake County. Head coach Klark Kindler had discussed the scrappiness and quickness of the team they were facing and it took the six man rotation some time to adjust. At the half the Cowboys had a 25-32 point deficit.
The final score of 61-67 does not reflect the rebound the Cowboys overcame in the fourth quarter led by Jace Mobley who had a stellar four quarters with 23 points scored.
Ethan Quinn looks to pass the ball to an open teammate. | JOHN HANSON PHOTO
At one point Meeker was down by 12 points to bounce back to within six and be able to get the boards needed to lead the fourth quarter 21-19.
Two other Cowboys broke into double digit scoring, Jonathan Fitzgibbons had 16 points and Ethan Quinn had 10. Fitzgibbons also had 15 rebounds that were evenly split between offense and defense.
For seniors Casey Brink and Jon Cardile this was their last time wearing the black and gold basketball uniform.
“We are looking forward to the future and wish our two seniors well in their future endeavors,” commented Kindler.
Moving up to class 3A didn’t slow down the success of the program this year.
“We have great kids in our program that got better as the season went on,” said Kindler.
By TIFFANY JEHOREK – Special to the Herald Times
