Lady Tigers secure second conference win

Encampment's Lady Tigers repeated their recipe for conference game success Friday, with a 36-27 takedown over Hanna-Elk-Mountain's Lady Miners.

Friday's game was close during the first half, but the Lady Tigers sped ahead to lead by more than 10 points by the end of the third quarter. The Lady Miners couldn't keep up in the fourth, as Encampment moved further ahead in points to win the game.

After Friday's win and a previous 39-33 triumph over Walden, Colo., the Lady Tigers now sit at 8-5 (non-conference) and 2-1 (conference). Encampment's first conference win was 48-31 against Farson-Eden.

Top scorers Friday were Cassidy Little (20 points), Alyssa Barkhurst (10), McKenzie Powell (4) and Jennifer Morgan (2). Head coach Amy Clay said it feels great to have won two out of three conference games this season.

"The girls have set a goal that they want to stay out of the pigtail game, so we're working towards it," she said. "It feels really good, especially when you can win on the road, and I thought our inside girls did a great job. We've been working on boxing out, and we did well against HEM's two pretty tall girls. I thought we held our own pretty well, and that we boxed out well."

Clay said she was impressed with the progress of all her team players, whom she said are all equally important when in game mode.

"Cassidy's really starting to figure out the posts, and she knows when she's open to take the shot and give it up when she's double-teamed," she said. "She's coming along really well, but I don't like to just point out her because Konnar and those girls are finding ways to give her the ball, too. It doesn't matter who scored the point at the end of the day, because whoever gets a rebound or makes a good pass is equally important to me. There's no 'I' in team, it's a team sport."

Little said she was pleased to get one step further toward the team's goal by winning a second conference game.

"The goal is to not have a pigtail game this year, so getting two out of the way really helps," she said.

HEM's team had five scorers Friday evening, including Shelby Bowen (9 points), Brittany Dys (8), Haley Clark (5), Cheyenne Tomkins (3) and Maggie Johnson (2). Before the varsity game, the junior varsity Lady Miners tied their matchup 12-12 with Encampment.

Up next for the Lady Tigers is their first homecoming game against Saratoga, which begins at 4 p.m. Friday at Encampment. The Lady Tigers play Little Snake River at noon Saturday at Encampment.

Results from Tuesday's game against Rock River were not available at press time.