Basketball Recap: Meeker Comes Up Short

Meeker fought the good fight in their overtime contest against North Fork on Saturday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 59-55 hit to the loss column at the hands of the North Fork Miners. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Miners this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 58-41 back in January.

Loss or not, Meeker got some senior leadership from Drew Drake and Tyler Sanders. Drake went 7-for-10 to rack up 14 points and five rebounds, while Sanders posted 13 points and three steals. Another player making a difference was Said Rodriguez, who put up nine points and five boards.

Even though they lost, Meeker smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 7.2 offensive boards per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matches they've averaged 16.4.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead North Fork to victory, but perhaps none more so than Moss Inman, who had 19 points and six rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of David Audelo, who scored 12 points and seven boards.

Meeker dropped their record down to 6-15 with the defeat, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.3 points over those games. As for North Fork, with the win, they broke their five-game losing streak and moved their record to 8-12.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Meeker will take on De Beque at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Meeker has given up an average of 48.1 points per game this season, so hopefully the team got some defensive drills in this week. As for North Fork, they will challenge Peyton at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Peyton knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past five games -- so hopefully North Fork likes a good challenge.