Panthers pounce for conference win

While the Saratoga Panthers and Lady Panthers had a “white out” game planned against Farson-Eden Pronghorns and Lady Pronghorns on Friday, it was not the type of whiteout they were expecting as Wyoming’s winter weather closed roads and prevented the two teams from playing.

Reaching out to Saratoga Middle/High School Activities Director Greg Bartlett on Monday, the Saratoga Sun was informed that a makeup game had been scheduled to take place on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 5 p.m.

Though they had to reschedule the game against Farson-Eden, Saratoga was still able to host the Cokeville Panthers and Lady Panthers on Saturday. While hosting the rival Panthers, Saratoga boys secured their first conference win as they forced the previously No. 3 Cokeville to No. 4 before taking their spot in the 1A Southwest Conference.

Lady Panthers vs.

Lady Panthers

“It was a tough game, Cokeville is an excellent team,” said Heather Bartlett, head coach of the Lady Panthers. “I was proud of the girls for playing hard the entire game, even when being beaten by a large point spread.”

In their game against the rival Lady Panthers, Saratoga had hit the court without junior Aubrey Berger, one of the top scorers for the team, as she is currently recovering from an injury. Despite the loss of Berger, several other members of the Lady Panthers made their marks in the scorebook against Cokeville.

Senior Mychaela Jackman led the team against the Lady Panthers with 4 points and 3 steals. Juniors Jenna Dew and Taylor Bennett scored 4 points as well, as did sophomore Savanna Wells. Sophomore Tasia Daley also scored 4 points and had 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

As the match against Cokeville came to an end, the Lady Panthers trailed by 50 points as they fell 22-72. Following their loss, Saratoga is now 3-8 for the season and 0-2 for conference.

The next game for the Lady Panthers, should the make-up against Farson-Eden take place, will be when they host the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Lady Rattlers (4-7,1-1) at 5 p.m. on Thursday and the Mountain View Lady Buffalos (8-5, 2-0) at 3 p.m. on Friday.

Panthers vs. Panthers

When the Cokeville Panthers entered Saratoga’s Panther Den, they were ranked No. 3 in the conference. Following the match, however, Cokeville dropped down to No. 4 while Saratoga took their previous placing as the 3rd ranked team.

“I am really proud of the boys’ effort on Saturday against Cokeville,” said Jason Williams, head coach of the Panthers. “We got down early to a very good team, but the boys didn’t give up and kept working and fighting to get themselves back in the game, which we finally did in the fourth quarter. Like I told the boys afterwards, this was a great team victory because it took the entire team to get the win.”

Senior Sam Schneider scored 34 points in Saratoga’s victory over Coke-ville. Following Schneider was sophomore Teegan Love with 23 points, junior Logan Seahorn with 13 points and sophomore Gavin Bartlett with 6 points.

“It is also very important for us because it is our first conference victory. With our conference being so competitive this year, every win within the conference is going to be very important. To be able to get that win in front of the home crowd was exciting and a great confidence builder of us,” Williams said.

Saratoga defeated Cokeville 83-78 and is now 8-3 for the season and 1-1 for conference. The next regularly scheduled game for the Panthers will be when they host the LSRV Rattlers (7-5, 0-2) at 5 p.m. on Thursday and the Mountain View Buffalos (7-6, 2-0) at 3 p.m. on Friday.