Tough week for Niwot girls hoops

The Niwot High girls basketball team came out cold against unbeaten Riverdale Ridge Dec. 13, and failed to score in the first quarter, falling behind 26-0.

The Cougars got on the board in the second quarter, scoring seven points, but trailed at the half, 45-7. After suffering through a 2-point third quarter while allowing another 23 points, Niwot came back to score eight points in the final quarter, but lost 78-17.

The only consolation might be that Riverdale Ridge's next opponent suffered and even worse loss, 80-14.

For the young Cougars, it was another story of turnovers (38) and poor shooting from the field (13%). A bright spot was an improved performance from the free-throw line, where Niwot shot 11-18.

Evelyn Melis led the scoring with four points, and Chloe Mitchell added three. Rose Pacheco led with five rebounds, while Molly Slupik added four.

The Cougars traveled to Severance on Dec. 15, and put 45 points on the board, but came out on the short end of a 70-45 score.

Pacheco led the offense with 17 points, while Haddie Adams added eight points. Niwot was again over 50% at the charity stripe, shooting 11-20. Slupik (8), Tiffany Yie (7) and Thalia Almarez (6) were the top rebounders.

The Cougars take on Longmont on Dec. 20 at home in a doubleheader.