LONGMONT — In what seemed like an instant, a battle turned into a beating.
The Mead Mavericks were down two early in the third. Less than four minutes later the Roosevelt RoughRiders were up 17 and cruising to a 65-45 win Friday night.
“It was one of those games we went on a little dry spell,” senior Ryan Lozinksi said. “We couldn’t hit any 3s and couldn’t get anything inside.”
The Mavericks were hoping to get closer to the top of the Tri-Valley League standings. They trailed Roosevelt and Windsor by a game going into Friday and, playing at home, things seemed to line up for them.
Instead the RoughRiders simply ran roughshod over Mead in the second half.
“I don’t think they did anything differently,” said junior Aaron Cheung, who was held to six points. “Maybe their shots were falling and we lost all of our energy and we couldn’t keep fighting. I take that 100 percent. I had an off game and couldn’t be there for my team.”
Early, it looked like the Mavericks (9-6, 4-3) were going to run away with this one. They went on an 11-0 run in the first period and led 17-5 after Griffin Nelson hit one of his three 3-pointers.
But things changed drastically after that. Lozinski, who led Mead with 17 points, got into foul trouble and Roosevelt (9-7, 6-1) started hitting shots. The Roughriders, who had just one basket in the first seven minutes of the game, hit two 3-pointers to cut the lead to four heading into the second period.
It was a two-point Roosevelt lead at halftime before things turned in the third. Cameron Weber scored seven of his 18 points in a short stretch as the Roughriders went from a 30-28 lead to a 47-30 advantage.
Overall, Roosevelt outscored the Mavericks 42-13 over the course of 15 minutes.
“We didn’t respond when they got hot and went on that run,” Mead coach Darin Reese said.
The Mavericks got to within 12 late in the third but Roosevelt put it away quickly. Michael Mitchell, who also scored 18 points, hit a bucket to push the lead back to 16 and Colby Walter’s putback made it a 20-point game.
“They have talented players but that’s probably as well as they’ve shot it all year,” Reese said. “They got open looks and made them. We had open looks and we didn’t hit them.”
With the second half of the league schedule left the Mavericks aren’t panicking after one loss.
“It’s a tough loss but it’s just a bump,” Lozinski said. “We still have a lot of games left.
Roosevelt 65, Mead 45
at Mead HS
ROOSEVELT (65)
Mitchell 7 2-2 18, Weber 5 7-8 18 Walter 4 4-4 12, Hernandez 2 2-2 6, Rivera 2 2-2 6, Lira 1 0-0 3, Morford 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 17-28 65.
MEAD (45)
Lozinksi 6 5-8 17, Nelson 4 0-0 11, Cheung 2 2-2 6, Desch 2 1-1 5, Perez 1 2-2 4, Maher 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 10-13 45
Score by quarters:
Roosevelt 13 13 25 14 — 65
Mead 17 7 13 8 — 45
3-point field goals — Roosevelt (4 ): Mitchell 2, Weber, Lira; Mead (3): Nelson 3. Total fouls — Roosevelt 14, Mead 9. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
