Lady Cowboys whip Plateau Valley 64-43 in first round

MEEKER — The Meeker girls’ basketball team ended the season for the Lady Cowboys from Plateau Valley last Saturday in the first round of the district tournament and will now host the final four teams this Friday and Saturday. Meeker will try to beat Hayden for the first time, after two losses to the Lady Tigers this season, in the semifinal game starting at 6:30 p.m., Friday.
“The girls played really well against Plateau Valley,” head coach Hallie Blunt said of her team’s 64-43 win. “Everyone got to in and all but three girls had scored by the end of the first half. It was the best half of team basketball we’ve played all season.”
Meeker led 18-9 after the first quarter with Marki Cook scoring six of her nine points, the first three from behind the three-point arc, in the first quarter. Stacey Fitzgibbons scored five of her 11 points in the second quarter, while Janae Kindall and Timbre Shriver each added four and Meeker led 39-14 at halftime.
Plateau Valley outscored Meeker in the third quarter but the hometown Cowboys still led 47-31, going into the final stanza.
Kindall added another eight points in the fourth quarter and led Meeker with 14. Sydney Cook finished with 12, Fitzgibbons 11 and Marki Cook nine. Kelsey Kendall added six, Shriver and Morgan Neilson each scored four, while Megan Ridings and Rebecca de Vergie each added two.
“We were in control and the girls played with confidence,” Blunt said. “They are getting confidence at the right time. If we can put two halves together we can compete with anyone. We just need to step up now.”
Although all four teams (Rangely and Paonia play are on the opposite side of the bracket), will advance to the regional tournament.
“We are playing for seeding,” Blunt said of the district tournament. The No. 1 and No. 3 seeds from the district tournament will compete in Grand Junction the following week. The No. 2 seed will play in Durango and the No. 4 seed will play its regional game in Wheat Ridge.