Young Tigers earn second at middle school tourney

The younger crop of Encampment boys' basketball players finished their season strong Saturday, earning a respectable second place at the Carbon County Junior High Basketball Tournament.

The Tigers, playing on their home court, pulled in second after suffering a championship game loss to the Little Snake River Rattlers. The Saratoga A Team secured third place in the tourney after beating Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow.

Coach Heather Bartlett said she was proud of how her boys played in their final tournament game, and was especially impressed with sixth-grade player Reid Schroeder. While up against the much taller Rattlers, the 4'8" Schroeder went on to score 15 of the Tigers' points during the final championship game.

"He really surprised me this game," Bartlett said. "I knew he was really good, but he really stepped up this game and played fantastic."

Bartlett also noted that Wyatt Cox, the team's six-foot-tall eighth-grader, had been out due to an arm injury, and how that caused her boys to step it up in gameplay.

"They went out and played really hard man-to-man defense, and they played their hardest," Bartlett said. "Wyatt, one of our post-players, broke his arm, so they weren't used to playing without him. They did a great job of stepping up and doing the best they could to fill his position. They were super patient on offense and passed the ball around well."

Bartlett said she was also impressed with the effort shown throughout both the Saturday tournament and 2013 season. Including tournament games, the junior Tigers ended with a 9-3 season record.

"It was a big blow for us to lose Wyatt, but without him they stepped up and won the rest of the games until this one," she said. "The rest of the team was able to step up and play tough the rest of the season."

Carbon County

Junior High

Basketball

Tournament results

First Place: Little Snake River

Second Place: Encampment

Third Place: Saratoga A Team

Championship game-

Encampment vs. Little Snake River

32-47 (Loss)

Gage Bartlett- 2 points

Tyler Kuster- 8 points

Spencer Knotwell- 5 points

Reid Schroeder- 15 points

Saratoga A Team vs.

Hanna-Elk Mountain-

Medicine Bow

44-32 (Win)

Logan Seahorn- 7 points

Ben Fairbanks- 8 points

Colton Jones- 8 points

Cameron Travis- 11 points

Tyler Shotwell- 3 points

Bryce Roberts- 7 points

Encampment vs. HEM

34-21 (Win)

Gage Bartlett- 18 points

Tyler Kuster- 11 points

Dayne Anderson- 2 points

Sean Stewart- 3 points

Saratoga B Team vs.

Wamsutter

23-22 (Win)

Ethan McArthur- 4 points

Greg Swanson- 4 points

Sam Schneider- 3 points

Alex Sandoval- 8 points

Menphis Smith- 4 points

Saratoga B Team vs. HEM

18-43 (Loss)

Logan Wells- 2 points

Aaron Detterer- 4 points

Jacob Sharp- 2 points

Sam Schneider- 6 points

Alex Sandoval- 2 points

Tristan Gray- 2 points

Saratoga A Team vs.

Wamsutter

45-10 (Win)

Logan Seahorn- 1 point

Jeremy Detterer- 2 points

Ben Fairbanks- 10 points

Colton Jones- 2 points

Cameron Travis- 10 points

Tyler Shotwell- 10 points

Bryce Roberts- 10 points

Saratoga A Team vs. Little Snake River

21-41 (Loss)

Ben Fairbanks- 12 points

Colton Jones- 5 points

Cameron Travis- 2 points

Bryce Roberts- 2 points