Lady Cowboys open year with pair of wins at home

MEEKER — The Lady Cowboy varsity basketball team opened 2009 with two home court victories last week.
Meeker defeated Plateau Valley 64-54 last Thursday and evened the score with North Park with a 61-47 win last Friday.
“I was really glad we beat North Park, they beat us earlier in the season,” Coach Hallie Blunt said. “And we just kept plugging along against Plateau Valley.”
Meeker fell behind 13-16 after the first quarter but came back to score 21 points and hold Plateau Valley to eight, to take a 34-24 lead at halftime, in the first game of 2009.
“Plateau Valley played a good game, while we had trouble shooting and a couple of players in foul trouble early but everyone kept working hard,” Blunt said. “We got a 10-point lead and kept it.”
Marki Cook hit two of her three-point shots in the second quarter, with senior classmates Sydney Cook making three baskets and Janae Kindall adding five points in the same period. Marki Cook scored six more in the third and ended the game with a three-pointer to lead all scorers with 22.
Against the North Park Wildcats, Meeker again fell behind in the first quarter 12-15 and also trailed at halftime 20-27. Meeker lost to North Park in the semifinals of the Cowboy Shootout in the first week of the season.
Kindall kept Meeker in the game with 14 points in the first half, then scored 18 in the second half to finish with a career-high 32 points.
“It was the best second half these girls have ever played,” Blunt said.
Marki Cook hit two, three-pointers and classmate Rachel Smith added another in the third quarter to help their team outscore the lady Wildcats 21-11 in the the third quarter.
Kindall added eight more in the fourth and Marki Cook was four-for-four from the free throw line in the final quarter.
Cook finished with 16 points, Stacey Fitzgibbons added four, Smith three, while seniors Kelsey Kendall and Megan Ridings each added a basket.
Meeker will play a non-league game in Carbondale against Roaring Fork this Friday and host Vail Christian Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.