The Meeker Cowboys played in the finals Saturday against the Mancos Blue Jays in the 2023 White River Electric Association Cowboy Shootout, a final score 42-38.
“This weekend was super fun and I’m so proud of our team,” commented Senior Ainsley Selle who had 23 points over the weekend and 17 rebounds.
This was the first time Meeker has made it to the championship in the Shootout in a long time.
“This year, we have really worked hard to implement an offense, focusing on passing the ball around, cutting fast, and getting some movement which opens up a lot of opportunities to score, said Selle. “I think the biggest factor to our success this weekend was our defense, though. We have been communicating and rotating to cover every area on the court. We have been working super hard in practice and I’m super excited to see what the rest of the season holds.”
Other Cowboys who topped the stats are Reese Clatterbaugh with 14 points and 17 rebounds, Rylee Sullivan who scored 32 points and Charlie Rogers with 16.
The Cowboys opened the tournament on Thursday dominating the Soroco Rams 63-28. Soroco, who remained in class 2A and the Cowboys’ previous league, had a coaching change in 2023.
“We had a lot of fun and the girls played great,” said head coach Jamie Rogers. “Offensively we have been working on making reads and they did a really great job at reading the defense and shooting or passing when they should.”
Meeker kept the winning streak going in the semifinals with a big win over Altamont, 44-11, to advance to the finals to face Mancos.
“It was a super close game with Mancos,” Rogers said. “Our girls played such great defense; they were intense and in people’s faces and it is creating an offense.”
Mancos took the lead early in the game but the Cowboys were able to close the gap by half time and the two teams stayed even in the third. The fourth quarter was when Mancos made the move and the Cowboys were unable to answer each basket.
Coach Rogers started a different group of girls each game last weekend.
“We have nine girls that play well together and will be our key players this year,” said Rogers. “This is a group of really strong even girls and depending on who we are playing I can group them based on what we need to be doing on the court, speed, going inside, etc. and they all play well together.”
The All-Tournament Team for 2023 was Mary Peck—Altamont, Lantry Gallery—Nucla, Ainsley Selle—Meeker, Quincy Montoya—Mancos (Tournament MVP); Claire Goodwin—Mancos and Andrea Jacques—Coal Ridge.
This weekend the team is on a break while they help host the boys’ shootout tournament.
The next game at home will be against Aspen on Dec. 15.
Bobby Gutierrez photo
The Meeker girls’ varsity basketball team finished second in the 2023 WREA Girls’ Cowboy Shootout to open the season. Meeker dominated Soroco in the first round, then Altamont, Utah, in the semifinals before losing to Mancos in the championship game. Group Photo: Pictured bottom: Charlie Rogers, Taylor Garcia, Elle Hossack and Rylee Sullivan. Back row: assistant coach Karen Dinwiddie, Jayde Turner, Addie Knowles, Ainsley Selle, Adi Selle, Reese Clatterbaugh, head coach Jamie Rogers and Lissbeth Sanchez.
AMBER GARCIA photo
Senior Ainsey Selle goes up for a shot during WREA’s Cowboy Shootout this weekend.
