Lady Panthers headed to Lander

For their final home game of the season, the Saratoga Lady Panthers secured their first conference win of the season as they hosted the Encampment Lady Tigers (7-14. 1-7) on Thursday. The win against the Lady Tigers ensured a pigtail against Encampment that took place at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Hanna, Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow High School. Following their win against Encampment, the Lady Panthers traveled to Baggs to face the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Lady Rattlers (9-9, 5-2), but would fall by 7 points.

Saratoga vs.

Encampment

When the Lady Panthers ventured into Tiger Nation on Jan. 4, they fell by 4 points to Encampment as the Lady Tigers ended the game 30-34. As the season wore on, the Saratoga girls have struggled to secure a conference win and to put a full four quarters together. Heather Bartlett, head coach for the Lady Panthers, would see moments of brilliance that she focused on throughout the regular season.

As Encampment came into the Panther Den on Thursday, it appeared as if the Lady Panthers might have another struggle as the Lady Tigers drew first blood. With two 3-pointers from junior Taylor Bennett and one successful free throw, however, Saratoga trailed by one point with 2:30 left in the first quarter. By the end of the first quarter, however, the Lady Panthers would lead by 6 points.

Going into the second quarter, Saratoga the momentum they had gained in the first eight minutes as they increased their defense and, at times, led the Lady Tigers by double. Where the Lady Panthers had, near the beginning of the season, appeared to shy away from rebounds and tough defense, they now were quick to fight for the ball. As the game headed into halftime, Saratoga continued their lead with a 10 point margin.

With the game wearing on, the Lady Panthers continued to forge ahead and increase their lead against Encampment. At the end of the third quarter, Saratoga were ahead by 13 points with the score 46-33. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Panthers scored another 19 points to Encampment's 10 and ended the match with a score of 64-43, giving the Saratoga girls a conference win.

"That's just what I've been waiting for them to do the whole year. The last three weeks, they've really come a long way with playing hard the whole game. 'I just want you guys to play hard the whole game' and they did that," said Bartlett. "I had some girls, shooting had been problem for us about the whole year, so I made a deal with them a couple weeks ago. I said 'I'll be here early in the morning, whoever wants to come in and shoot, come in and shoot' and I have three of them come in almost every single morning since then and Taylor Bennett was one of them."

Mychaela Jackman led the Lady Panthers against Encampment with 18 points and 8 steals, followed by Bennett with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. Savannah Wells scored 8 points, Aubrey Berger scored 6 points and had 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals and Tiffany Bauer scored 6 points and had 5 rebounds and 7 steals.

Following their win against Encampment, the Lady Panthers were fully aware that their next game would be against the Lady Rattlers.

"I don't want to let up at all. We just want to keep our momentum, we want to get a win against Baggs and then get the home court advantage on the pigtail," Bartlett said.

Saratoga vs. LSRV

When Saratoga hosted the Lady Rattlers on Jan. 24, LSRV left the Panther Den with a win as they defeated the Lady Panthers 50-59. On Friday, the Saratoga girls fell to the Lady Rattlers again, but decreased the lead from the last match by 2 points as LSRV won 36-43.

"The girls did well against Little Snake," said Bartlett. "We obviously didn't get the win, but we played well and I was happy for the most part with our performance there. There were a couple of things that popped up during that game that we need to work on, but overall it was a good game for us."

Berger led the team against LSRV with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Bennett scored 10 points and had 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Senior Melissa Pinedo scored 6 points and Jackman scored 4 points and had 4 rebounds and 6 steals.

Following their 1-1 week, the Lady Panthers are 4-15 for the season and 1-7 for conference.

Despite a loss to the Lady Rattlers, Saratoga had one final chance to secure their place at the 1A West Regional Tournament as they traveled to Hanna for the pigtail game against Encampment

Pigtail Play-in

Monday evening, the Saratoga Lady Panthers faced the Encampment Lady Tigers on Soto Court to determine which team would be headed to regionals.

In the first half of the game, the Lady Panthers were neck-and-neck with Encampment as the Lady Tigers led Saratoga. Coming back from halftime, however, was a different story.

Starting off the third quarter with several 3-pointers, Bennett gave the Lady Panthers the push needed to claw ahead. Along with multiple 3-point shots, Saratoga forced multiple turnovers and got the ball to the basket.

The Lady Panthers pushed further and further ahead as they increased their lead against Encampment, first by single digits, then by double.

As the buzzer rang, Saratoga defeated the Lady Tigers 55-42 in an intense game that saw both teams fight for the win.

With their win against Encampment, the Lady Panthers will head to regionals where they will begin by facing the St. Stephens Lady Eagles at 2 p.m. on Thursday.