Rattlers bit twice while in Colorado

The Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattler’s head coach, Jack Cobb, had wanted to test his team out against bigger 2A Colorado teams this week. Although LSRV took two hits, the games did not matter in the conference race of the 1A Southwest where the Rattlers are 2-0.

“We went to Meeker and played a big team—not super big—and we didn’t play as well as I think we could,” Cobb said. “We got behind in the beginning and then when we looked like we were making a run, they started scoring.”

In the 1st quarter, the Meeker Cowboys scored 18 points to the Rattlers’ 10. The 2nd quarter had the Rattlers score 15 points to the Cowboys’ 18. Halftime was 36-25 in favor of Meeker.

“We battled and got close but then they would hit those big shots when they needed to and we just didn’t,” Cobb said. “They had a big kid inside and we didn’t have an answer to in the first half. When we figured out how to handle him, their guards hit some 3s. We just didn’t shoot well enough to keep up with Meeker.”

The 3rd quarter had the Cowboys score 15 points to the Rattlers’ 9. During the 4th quarter, the Cowboys scored 9 points and the Rattlers got 8. The final score was in favor of the Cowboys, 60-42.

The loss didn’t bother Cobb other than he was somewhat disappointed the Rattlers didn’t play a little bit better to compete with what the Cowboys put up against them.

The next day the Rattlers faced the SoRoCo Rams. 

“The next day we played better, but we didn’t shoot well at all,” Cobb said. “They were bigger than I thought and every position they were bigger. Their point guard was 6’2” and 220 (pounds) and he could shoot and he also hit 3s. We ended up putting in a smaller team and honestly found our rhythm.”

Cobb said it was a tight game. 

“We started the game slow and we had some shooting slumps,” Cobb said. “You need to hit those early points and we got ourselves into a 10-to-12 point hole. We battled back to be within 5 points and then they would hit a 3 (pointer) and that was tough. We played hard enough but we only hit four shots out of 30 that were 3s and, when you shoot like that, you aren’t going to win. Especially with them hitting their 3’s. We didn’t plan to try to shoot that many, but that was how it went.”

Cobb pointed out if the Rattlers had hit half of their 3s, it would have been a very different game since the Rattlers ended up losing by only 7 points. 

The final score was 58-51, Rams.

“Because the Meeker team was so big inside, it forced us to shoot more 3s,” Cobb said. “That was what was so disappointing, we had open shots with the 3s and honestly most of them were not challenged, but we just didn’t shoot well.”

Cobb knows that when shots stop going in, players start to tighten up.

“I always tell my players that basketball is not a thinking game,” Cobb said. “”It is a reaction game. If you are thinking about your shot, you are not going to make it. I could see that hesitation as they thought should ‘I take it or not’ and then they would miss. They played hard and well and honestly it was a winnable game for us, but we just didn’t pull it off.”

Cobb said the two games, even though they were losses, gets him ready for next week when he plays two conference games against Saratoga and Encampment.

“I challenged the boys this week to keep winning so we don’t have to go to that pigtail game to decide who goes to regionals,” Cobb said. “Whoever loses that pigtail game is going to be crushed because all of these teams are good.”

Cobb said it is going to be a battle between all five teams.

The Rattlers will host the Saratoga Panthers at 4 p.m. on January 28 and the Encampment Tigers at noon on January 29.