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Hayden — You could practically see the smoke coming from Klark Kindler's ears. At the end of the second quarter of Saturday night's boys basketball game in Hayden, the Meeker head coach entered the locker room fuming.

His deep, talented squad that features an all-senior starting lineup had let the Tigers back into the game in the second quarter. Meeker held a halftime lead of 27-15 after finishing the first quarter ahead 16-5.

"I told (my team) we were playing at Hayden's level and letting them dictate the tempo," Kindler said about his halftime pep-talk. "We like to set the pace."

Whatever Kindler said worked in the third quarter. The Cowboys hit the floor running, making steals and nailing shots in the form that had earned them a 10-1 record and placed them atop the Class 2A District 5 standings. They went on to trounce the Tigers, 66-27.

After Bryan Richards scored the Tigers' only field goal of the third quarter, Meeker went on a 17-0 led by Chantry Ross' steals and easy transition buckets.

"We just came out flat," Hayden coach Shawn Baum-

gartner said. "We didn't have the intensity, and they're too good of a team to just be walking around."

Billy Zehner opened the game with a 3-pointer to give Hayden an early lead. It would be Tigers' only lead of the game.

Meeker stre-

tched its defense to hold Hayden point guard Jordan Williams to three points. Bryan Ric-

hards and Dave Gullett combined for 10 points to spark Hayden's second-quarter run, during which they work the ball inside and cut the Meeker lead to five. Gullett also

led Hayden with seven rebounds.

But for every missed Hayden shot and quick possession, Meeker answered with superb shooting on the other end. Ross finished with 22 points, and Kurtis Dunbar had 20.

"We just have to come back next week and pick ourselves up," Gullett said. "We just have to forget about this and get after it next week."

Gullett said Hayden had put together one of its better games against West Grand on Thursday. Unfortunately, the Tigers could not execute in a game Baumgartner said featured too many turnovers and missed foul shots (2-for-12 in the fourth quarter). Thursday's game ended in a 53-45 loss for Hayden. The two losses put the Tigers at 3-6 overall. They play at home against North Park at 8:30 p.m. Friday.

- To reach Dave Shively, call 871-4253

or e-mail dshively@steamboatpilot.com