Lady Panthers grab second in middle school tourney

Jan. 18 and Jan. 19

The Saratoga Middle School (SMS) girls A basketball team won big in the month of January. The girls defeated Wamsutter by a score of 55-17. The leading scorer was Meredith Lincoln with 17 points. Lincoln also had four rebounds, three steals and four assists. Katie Loose had 8 points, three rebounds, six steals and six assists. Sara Burton, Mycheala Jackman and Melissa Escobedo all had 6 points apiece. Escobedo also had seven rebounds, five steals and an assist. Allison Faulk scored 4 and Maya Zeiger scored 2 in the win.

The next night, the girls beat Encampment 55-35. The leading scorer this night was Burton with 18 points. Lincoln racked up 14 points and Shaelee Hamann added 9. Loose scored 4 and Faulk contributed 1 in the win.

The girls B team had only one game that week against Encampment and although they dropped the contest 7-26, the team continues to improve according to head coach Scott Bokelman. Jackman led the team with three rebounds, and eight steals. Melissa Escobedo followed with 2 points, one rebound and five steals. Maya Zeiger and Allison Faulk both scored 2 points, along with Morgan Dale’s 1 point. Kierstan Bartlett also had five steals on the night.

Jan. 22

The SMS girls played North Park in a game that was neck and neck right up to the end. They lost the game 16-17. Melissa Escobedo led the team with 10 points.

The Saratoga C team also had playing time that week getting in two quarters against North Park. Claribel Oiler scored 2 points with her free throws and Amber Williams scored 2 points.

“With three games under their belts, all of the girls have gained experience on the court,” Bokelman said.”Overall, they continue to improve greatly,”

The B and C teams have two weeks left in their season.

Jan. 25 and Jan. 26

Escobedo led the team scoring with 14 in the Rawlins game and 8 points in the Hanna game.

Friday night Escobedo had four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Saturday, she had three steals and four assists.

Jackman scored 6 points in each game. On Friday Jackman had seven rebounds, six steals and two assists. On Saturday, she had two rebounds, five steals and two assists.

Friday’s loss was a heart-breaker to the Rawlins Outlaws. In the last second of in the game, the Outlaws scored two free throws to come out on top 43-44.

“It was a great game with our kids giving a total effort,” Bokelman said.

Lincoln led with 21 points, followed by Burton with 12 points. Loose and Zaragosa had 4 each, and Hamann had 2 points.

The A team defeated Hanna on Saturday, 41-14.

“The kids played a complete game,” Bokelman said. “It was a great defensive effort.”

Burton scored 9 points, followed by Loose with 7. Spiering, Escobedo and Hamann all totalled 4 points and Lincoln scored 3. Zeiger, Jackman, Faulk and Bartlett all had 2 points.

Feb 1 and 2

The girls beat Walden in a close contest that Lincoln found a double, double in. Lincoln scored 17 points with 10 rebounds. The Saratoga team this time defeated Walden by 1 point in a hard fought battle, 39-38.

Hamann scored 10 points and had six steals. Burton scored 6 points and Loose found 4. Zaragosa scored 2 points and pulled in four rebounds. Zaragosa also had five steals in the match. Lincoln and Hamann both took six steals with Loose assisting three times.

Saturday night the Saratoga team defeated Encampment 37-31. Hamann led the scoring with 10 points followed by Lincoln and 8 points of her own. Loose and Zaragoza both had 6 and Burton contributed 7 points.

Feb. 8 and Feb. 9

On Friday SMS walloped Wamsutter, 41-15. Lincoln scored 14 followed by Jackman with 8 and Kennison Spiering with 6. Burton scored 5 and Hamann found 4. Zaragoza and Loose both scored two.

The next day Little Snake River handed SMS a close loss, 23-29. Loose scored 4 points and had 10 rebounds. Lincoln was one rebound away from another double, double with nine rebounds and 11 points. Hamann had 5 points and Loose found 4. Burton scored 3.

Feb. 16

Saturday saw the middle school girls’ tournament in the Encampment school gym. The first two games determined who moved into the championship bracket and who went into the consolation bracket. These games pitted number four Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow (HEM) against number six Encampment B team. The other morning game had number three Encampment A (EHS A) playing number five the Wamsutter Desert School.

Saratoga and Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) waited on the other side of the bracket as number two and number one respectively.

HEM and EHS A won in the first two games and moved into the champion bracket.

HEM next played LSRV and EHS A played Saratoga.

HEM and EHS A both took losses in this round and would have to play each other for third and fourth places.

Saratoga and LSRV moved on in the bracket and would play each other for the championship.

In the consolation bracket, the Desert School played Encampment B for fifth place place with Encampment B coming away handily with the win, 36-6.

EHS A and HEM battled it out for third and fourth places in game six. EHS A doubled HEM’s points taking third, 43-20.

The middle School girls championship came down to just two teams. LSRV and Saratoga squared off in a seesaw battle, and when the smoke cleared, LSRV had edged out Saratoga by a mere three points, 31-28.