Tigers sweep Carbon County Classic

The Encampment Tigers dominated the Carbon County Classic last weekend starting their season 3-0 overall, beating Rock River 71-8, Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow Miners (HEM) 64-55, and Cheyenne South Freshmen 60-33.

The Rock River Longhorns had some height on their team, but the Tigers had speed and experience. Leading with four seniors – Guy Erickson, Hunter Hammer, Jared Steward and KeeGan Johnson – the Longhorns did not have a chance on Friday. The teams played at the HEM gym.

What made the game even more impressive was sophomore Gage Bartlett, point guard, scoring 20 points, six rebounds and five steals. Bartlett's speed on the court had his teammates racing to support him at the net.

Guy Erickson followed Bartlett with 18 points and eight rebounds. He also had four assists and four steals.

Hunter Hammer scored 15 points and used his long arms to grab four steals.

The Tigers shut out the Longhorns in the first quarter 14-0, and after getting the first quarter jitters out, they just got better, with the half ending at 45-4. By the third quarter it was 57-6 and in the fourth quarter 71-8.

Encampment head coach Clint Bromley said he thought the Encampment defense played really well against the Longhorns, but he is not dismissing them as tough competition later on this season. "(The Longhorns) came back and played really well today, so I think a lot of it was first game jitters."

Saturday, the boys' game against the HEM Miners was a close one. Bromley said they always play a close game and they are always within 10 points of each other. "(HEM) executed really well," Bromley said. "They are going to be a handful down the road."

Bromley said the team has some things to work out. Playing a tournament to start off the season is tiring, he said, and they still have some conditioning to do.

Erikson was the standout against HEM with 29 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Bartlett and KeeGan Johnson each scored 10 points. Bartlett had five assists and four steals, while Johnson grabbed seven rebounds.

Jared Stewart added 7 points and had 6 rebounds.

In the Cheyenne game, two players had their first double-double with Wyatt Cox scoring 16 rebounds and grabbing 10 rebounds, while Erikson had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Bartlett scored 12 points against Cheyenne South.

Tuesday night, the junior varsity traveled to Walden, but scores were not available as of press time.

On Friday, the Tigers travel to Lingle-Fort Laramie, where they compete in the Dogger Basketball Classic through Saturday.