Girls get their groove back

The Lady Panthers split their home games last week, but their defense was on point. Adding to their strongest defensive play of the year, Meredith Lincoln had an outstanding Friday afternoon leading the team to a 53-36 victory of Hanna-Elk Mountain- Medicine Bow (HEM).

It should be noted that the HEM Lady Miners (2-1 conference, 8-9 overall) honored the sport by presenting a letter in support of Saratoga Lady Panthers (2-6, 5-11) Head Coach Scott Bokelman during his cancer treatment. The HEM girls also had special jerseys made for the game.

Lincoln was not alone during the game as the Lady Panthers were all shooting free throws well and the team took down 20 rebounds on offense.

The Lady Panthers came out strong against the Lady Miners scoring the first 9 points and ending the first quarter up by 4 at 13-9. Showing that they are no pushovers, the Lady Miners rallied in the second quarter pulling ahead in the middle of the second period. Making a battle of it, the Lady Panthers upped their game and the half ended in a 19-19 tie.

Finding their groove in the latter part of the third period, the Lady Panthers pulled ahead and never looked back. The third quarter ended 37-26 and the game ended 53-36.

Lincoln scored 31 points, her second highest score of the season. Lincoln also had six rebounds during the HEM game. Bolstering the Saratoga stats were Cruz Escobedo with 6 points and 5 rebounds, Sarah Burton with 5 points and 2 rebounds. Haley Soles had five rebounds while Katie Loose, Shaelee Hamann and Mychaela Jackman all had four rebounds against HEM.

On Saturday, the Lady Panthers hosted the Lingle-Ft. Laramie Lady Doggers (4-0, 7-11). While the Saratoga defense remained strong, Saratoga coach Heather Bartlett said the Lady Doggers were sinking more shots than they usually do while the Lady Panthers were not having the same luck. The Lingle-Ft. Laramie girls took the lead by the middle of the first quarter and held on to it through their 37-48 win.

Lincoln led the Lady Panthers scoring against Lingle-Ft. Laramie with 19 points followed by Soles at 8 points. The Lady Panthers had 28 team rebounds. Loose took down nine boards and Soles had seven rebounds.

This Friday, the Lady Panthers host their final home game of the season. It is "Pack the Gym" night for the matchup against the Niobrara County Lady Tigers (2-5, 8-12). It will also be the last fundraising night for coach Bokelman during the 2015-2016 basketball season. At the last home game, the seniors will be honored and there will be a cheesecake auction in support of the booster club. The girl's varsity game starts at 5 p.m.

On Saturday the girls travel to face the Southeast Lady Cyclones (5-1, 16-2) in Yoder. This is Lady Panthers last game of the regular season and is also a conference game. Tip off is at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.