Panthers start slow, finish strong

The Saratoga Panthers boys and girls, traveled together over the weekend to Shoshoni to compete in the Wrangler Invitational.

The boys left Shoshoni with a record of two wins and one loss, the loss coming at the hands of the No. 1 ranked Burlington Huskies, who delivered a 71-58 loss to the Panthers in their first game Friday.

Later that day, the Panthers took on Riverside, blanking the Rebels 75-40. Saturday, the boys took on the Longhorns of Meeteetse, taking another impressive win with a 38-point point difference. The final score in the game was 77-39

The Lady Panthers got off to a slow start Friday against the Lady Huskies of Burlington High School in Big Horn County, to whom the Panthers lost their first game. The girls in purple and gold rebounded though, securing wins the rest of the weekend.

According to the Lady Panthers’ head coach, Heather Bartlett, the team got off to a slow start due to a lot of turnovers, but once that was addressed, the team began to see more wins. Those turnovers cost the Panthers the win, losing to the Lady Huskies 18-32.

“This weekend went well overall,” Bartlett said. “We did not start off well against Burlington, the girls as a whole did not have a good game and we had a lot of turnovers.”

The Lady Panthers’ second game of the tournament, also held on Friday, the team took back the initiative and defeated another Big Horn County team, the Lady Rebels of Riverside in a game that went into overtime.

The game went to overtime after Tasia Daley made a free throw. Makiya Johnson tied the game in overtime with a long 3-pointer that found the net, tying the game. Taylor Bennett’s free throw put the Panthers up and shut down the Huskies.

Saturday, the ladies took on the Lady Longhorns of Meeteetsee out of Park County. Saratoga delivered its most decisive win of the weekend in that game, branding the ‘Horns with a seven-point loss, taking the game 37-30.

The Saratoga Panthers’ next scheduled game will have them facing off against cross-valley and conference rival Encampment Jan. 5 2018, kicking off the teams’ beginning of conference play. The game will be held in Saratoga at 4 p.m.