TIFFANY JEHOREK
MEEKER | Opening week of the 2018 Cowboys basketball season closed with four games under the boys’ belt and a 50 percent record. Traveling to Coal Ridge to take on the Titans, the Cowboys suffered their first loss 61-20. Head coach Klark Kindler, commenting on the first week of games, said, “Defensively we have played well; we are struggling offensively.”
Following the Coal Ridge game, the Cowboys hosted the WREA Cowboy Shootout, an eight-team tournament spanning three days. After a victory on day one over the Aspen Skiers with a score of 49-39 the Cowboys moved to round two to take on Lotus School for Excellence. Lotus, another 2A basketball team, had beaten Dolores 61-47 in round one of the tournament, but couldn’t pull out a victory against the Cowboys. With a final score of 45-35 the Cowboys moved on to the finals.
The Cowboys’ games so far this year have been relatively low scoring. The final of the tournament against the Rifle Bears was an extremely low scoring game—only 9-5 in the Bears’ favor at half time.
“We have not shot the ball well and we are turning it over in bad spots,” Kindler said. The Cowboys were down more than double what they scored in the first half in the last minutes of the game, and in the end the Bears took the “W” and first place in the tournament with a score of 31-20.
The Cowboys, finishing runner-up, “have played a tough schedule,” according to Kindler. “We are learning how to play with each other; I feel like we have gotten better each game and that is what we are after.”
There are two more games remaining before Christmas break. Meeker will host Grand Valley on Dec. 14 with JV games beginning at 4:30 p.m.. On Saturday, Dec. 15, the C and JV teams will travel to Plateau Valley with games beginning at 12:30 p.m.
By TIFFANY JEHOREK | Special to the Herald Times
