Saratoga girls drop two

It was a tough weekend for the Saratoga Lady Panthers (1-5, 5-11) as they fell to Niobrara County on Friday and Southeast on Saturday.

Meredith Lincoln put up 15 points against Niobrara to lead Saratoga in scoring. Lincoln was 5 for 17 in field goal attempts. She shot 5 for 9 at the charity stripe as well.

As a whole, the Lady Panthers shot well from the free throw line hitting 11 out of 19 attempts.

Defensively the Lady Panthers only pulled down 11 rebounds but managed to snag 20 steals.

The Lady Panthers found themselves trailing at the end of the first period 11-8. They managed to stay close to Niobrara County in the second as they gave up 16 while scoring 15.

At the half, the scoreboard read 27-23.

The Lady Panthers continued to hound Niobrara in the game, but saw the score getting away from them. As they entered the final frame Saratoga trailed 46-37.

The fourth quarter was all Niobrara as the visiting team totaled 16 points while holding the host team to 8.

Lincoln lead in scoring with 15. She was followed by Cruz Escobedo with 5, Alicia Zaragoza, Shaelee Hamann, Melissa Pinedo, Sarah Burton and Mychaela Jackman all had 4. Haley Soles scored 3, and Katie Loose had 2.

Saturday, the Lady Panthers hit the road to face Southeast. A tough game from the start, the Lady Panthers struggled to keep up with Southeast as they fell 58-25.

On the offensive side of the glass, the Lady Panthers combined for six rebounds. Defensively they had 10. Saratoga combined for 11 steals and four blocks in the contest.

Struggling to find clean shooting lanes, the Saratoga Lady Panthers could only muster 3 points in the first quarter. On the other side of the court, Southeast scored 14.

Southeast continued to roll as they added 16 more points in the second while holding the visiting Lady Panthers to 8.

At the half Saratoga trailed 30-11.

Southeast maintained their strong defensive effort as they held the Lady Panthers to 7 points in each of the next two quarters.

At the end of the third Saratoga trailed 41-18. At the end of the fourth, the final score was 58-25.

Lincoln once again led in scoring with 9 which included a 3-point shot and two points via the charity stripe. She was followed by Zaragosa with 6 which also included a 3-pointer. Soles scored 4. Pinedo had 3 all coming by way of a three-pointer. Hamann had 2, and Burton had 1.