The Soroco High School girls basketball team dominated at the 2A District 5 Tournament, defeating No. 5 Rangely and No. 3 Meeker to win the district championship.

Now, the Rams will be assigned a seeding in the top eight and host a regional tournament next weekend.

The Rams faced Meeker in the district final on Saturday, Feb. 26, at De Beque High School and won 48-40.

Coach David Bruner said it wasn’t a perfect game from his team, but it was fun to watch.

“Defensively, we were playing pretty well overall,” Bruner said. “I think we take some pride in defense. We didn’t shoot great, but we played good enough defense to win the game.”

Soroco developed a double-digit lead, but the Cowboys cut the deficit to four points in the second half.

“When that happened, I think (Soroco senior) Kayedence (Bruner) knew what she needed to do,” David said.

Kayedence scored 11 points in the fourth quarter with the help of two 3-pointers. Meeker’s top shooter responded with a similar showing in the quarter, but Soroco pulled away to victory.

Soroco earned a spot in the championship with a 61-24 win over No. 4 Rangely.

“Our legs were pretty fresh (Friday). We came out and shot the ball pretty well,” David said.

Meanwhile, No. 2 Plateau Valley and No. 3 Meeker duked it out in the other semifinal, which Meeker won 42-36.

Soroco swept through districts with one of their strongest players at about 75% health. Senior Peyton Parker is still recovering from a tweaked ankle. The next week will allow her and others to rest and get healthy before regionals.

Bruner has said it since before the season: no matter how good his team is, they’ll need a little luck to keep moving deeper into the postseason.

“You’ve got to catch some breaks and have a little bit of luck,” David said. “You’ve got to stay healthy; you can’t have anyone go down.”

More district championship games stretched into late Saturday evening. All District championships will be reseeded 1-8, based on RPI. As of Saturday, Soroco is ranked fifth in the Colorado High School Activities Association RPI. Thirty-two total teams will compete in regionals. The regional winners will advance to the eight-team state bracket.

Even if that doesn’t happen, Bruner is trying to remind his team to keep things in perspective. As much as it would be great to win regionals, losing isn’t the end of the world.

“We’re 20-1. There’s not much complaining,” David said. “Our kids play super hard. They’re fun to watch. That’s all you can ask. You’re not going to win every one of them, but you’ll have a chance to win every night if you play like that. … Basketball, it’s a game. There’s a lot worse things that’ll happen in life than losing a basketball game.”

Shelby Reardon is the assistant editor at the Steamboat Pilot & Today. To reach her, call 970-871-4253, email sreardon@SteamboatPilot.com or follow her on Twitter @ByShelbyReardon.