Lady Panthers look to build endurance, focus on fundamentals

Saratoga High School girls' new head basketball coach is not familiar with the teams his girls are competing against, but he is OK with that. "They don't know what to expect of me either," Saratoga Lady Panther's Head Coach Scott Bokelman said.

He knows the girls he is coaching. He coached all of them as Saratoga's middle school basketball coach for the past six years.

The first day of practice was Dec. 1, and Bokelman was already challenging the players with running, jumping, screening and passing drills.

Near the end of a two-hour practice, it was obvious the girls were putting in the effort. Bokelman still pushed them. He wants to make sure they have the stamina to play hard for four quarters.

Saratoga has several returning players including Justine Fourman, Veronica Lincoln, Katie Loose, Mati Love, Alicia Zaragosa, Peyten Fisher, Shaelee Hamann, Meredith Lincoln, Haley Soles, Kelsie Samson and Cruz Escobedo.

The team has gained freshmen Bryce Schwartzkopf, Kennison Spiering and Allison Falk.

The Lady Panthers ended last season with a 6-17 overall record and did not win a conference game during the season.

Bokelman said the first thing he is expecting from the girls' team is 100 percent effort all of time. "Never be out-hustled by your opponent," Bokelman said. "Be in better shape than your opponent."

Once that is out of the way, Bokelman said he can start working with offense and defense. "We are going to emphasizing effort to start out with."

The first test for the Lady Panthers will be at the Burns tournament this weekend, which will be a good indication of how the girls' match up this year.

"I will look at height and see what we need to do and whether we play man or zone," Bokelman said.

Friday, the girls will be matched up against Lingle/Ft. Laramie and Shoshoni and Saturday will play Wind River.

Under Bokelman, the team will focus more on fundamentals such as passing and working on screens.

Bokelman said making the transition from coaching middle school to coaching high school basketball team is going to be a challenge and that is why he took the position.

"I am looking forward to the challenge. I know the kids and I know what kind of effort they have given in the past," Bokelman said. "I think they are going to have a good season just by working hard."

The team is not going to promise any wins, Bokelman said. "We will promise effort and doing things correctly."

One thing the girls lack this year is height, but Bokelman is not too worried about that. He said he will use the girls strength to overcome getting to the basket against tall players on the opposing team. Bokelman pointed out that Haley Soles is a strong player and could be a front. Allison Falk is one of the tallest players and has long arms. "Katie (Loose) is tough, I think there are some kids that get in there and battle with them." Bokelman was using them as examples of who can get into the opponents' offense to battle for the ball. When playing the opponents with tall players, the defense will have to work extra hard inside the paint.

Height is one issue the team will face. "You can't teach height," Bokelman said.

Bokelman said there are things they can try to do to overcome the height – especially since no one on the girls' team is taller than five foot ten inches.

Lastly, Bokelman said he is telling the girls to not worry about the score, just do their job. "Don't even look at the score. I will let you know when we need to do something." He wants to the girls to only concentrate on the game and time left on the scoreboard. "We are going to execute and do what we do. Most of the time when you are doing what you are supposed to do and do it hard, the score takes care of itself."

Bokelman's assistant coaches are Kelly Horn and Mandy Moon.