NIWOT — It took the Niwot boys basketball team a little while to get going in its season opener on Wednesday night.
But when they found a rhythm, they rolled to victory.
With the Frederick Warriors looking to spoil their season opener at Niwot High, the host Cougars scored just six points in the first quarter. But they averaged 20 points per quarter over the final three and ended up with a 66-40 victory.
“We knew Frederick was going to try to get us so we all came out here ready to fight through a tough game,” Cougars sophomore Thomas Bounds said. “It means a lot to us to win the first one. In the second half, we locked it in better and played our game.”
Despite their six-point first quarter, the Cougars had a one-point lead to start the second quarter and stretched that lead to 26-15 at halftime. After a 15-point third quarter, the Cougars pulled away with 25 points in the fourth. Bounds scored 13 of his game-high 19 points during the fourth quarter.
The Cougars were intent on winning their home opener after finishing last year’s 8-15 season on a five-game losing streak. Though they had their struggles in the first half and more than a few scoring droughts on Wednesday night, the Cougars made up for it by hitting 11 3-pointers.
“We weren’t making free throws and we had twice as many turnovers as we did assists in the first half,” Cougars head coach Preston Hardy said. “Once we started seeing the ball go through the bucket in the second half, that fueled our defense. We have some shooters on this team and most of our threes were off assists, and we’ve been focused on sharing the ball.”
The Warriors, also looking to bounce back from a rough 2015-16 season in which they finished 5-18, were led by Nathan Washington’s 14 points. The team as a whole, however, struggled to score while missing 18 of 31 free-throw attempts.
The Cougars will host Erie on Friday. Also on Friday, the Warriors will travel to Standley Lake.
Brad Cochi: cochib@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/BradCochi
Niwot 66, Frederick 40
At Niwot H.S.
FREDERICK (0-1)
Cobe Quinlan 0 0-0 0, Nathan Washington 4 6-11 14, Avery Elkins 3 0-2 8, Nathan Lowry 0 0-0 0, Aidan Dreitz 1 0-2 3, Riley Buffington 1 2-3 4, Logan Robinson 0 0-0 0, Nathan Rawson 1 3-10 5, Jacob Green 2 2-3 6, Parker Ridgley 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 13-31 40.
NIWOT (1-0)
Adam Barber 4 2-4 12, Jackson Kolakowski 0 3-4 3, Jake Sims 3 0-2 9, Donato Rios 3 0-3 8, Thomas Bounds 4 8-9 19, Carter Osteen 2 0-0 4, Ethan Radatz 1 1-4 3, Jesse Falk 1 0-0 3, Connor Ryan 1 0-0 2, Cameron Carlson 1 1-2 3. Totals 20 15-28 66.
Score by quarters:
Frederick
5
10
12
13
—
40
Niwot
6
20
15
25
—
66
3-point field goals —
Frederick (3): Elkins 2, Dreitz; Niwot (11): Sims 3, Bounds 3, Barber 2, Rios 2, Falk. Total fouls —
Frederick 24, Niwot 26. Fouled out —
Washington, Rawson, Osteen.
