Lady Tigers' short-handed season ends

The Encampment Lady Tigers suffered a loss to their Valley and conference rivals, the Saratoga Lady Panthers (4-15, 1-7) on Thursday evening, but were able to celebrate a victory on their final home game of the season as they hosted the North Park Lady Wildcats on Saturday. Between those games, Encampment traveled to Rock River where they were hosted by the Lady Longhorns (19-2, 4-1) and suffered another loss.

Encampment

vs. Saratoga

While the Lady Tigers were able to celebrate a win the first time they faced Saratoga on Jan. 4, the second matchup was not in Encampment' favor. While the Lady Tigers fought to keep up with the Saratoga girls and drew first blood, the Lady Panthers were able to get ahead in the first quarter and maintain that lead.

"We did a nice job of scoring, but didn't play aggressive enough on defense," said Clint Bromley, head coach of the Lady Tigers. "They did a good job of creating pressure on the ball and that was the difference."

The Lady Tigers fought hard to close the gap that was between Encampment and the Lady Panthers. In the fourth quarter, Riley Little and Amber Stubbs fouled out within minutes of each other leaving the seven member team with only five able to play.

Noelle Peterson led the team with 14 points and 7 rebounds, followed by Grace Tieszen, who scored 9 points and had 6 rebounds. Lauren Buford scored 8 points and had 7 rebounds and Lizzi James scored 8 points and had 8 rebounds.

With a loss to the Lady Panthers, Encampment was forced into a pigtail game at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Hanna, Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow High School with Saratoga to determine who will go to the 1A West Regional Tournament.

Encampment vs.

Rock River

Following their loss to Saratoga, the Lady Tigers traveled to Rock River on Friday where the girls struggled to keep up with the Lady Longhorns.

"Lizzi had a very nice for us with a double-double," said Bromley, "we just couldn't find anyone else to step up and help her out."

Bromley added that, with Peterson not playing, an offensive hole was left that proved difficult to fill.

James, with a double-double, scored 13 points and had 13 rebounds while Buford had 9 rebounds.

Encampment vs.

North Park

When Encampment was hosted by the Lady Wildcats on Dec. 20, the Lady Tigers suffered a 3-point loss as North Park ended the game with a score of 44-47. Hosting the Lady Wildcats, Encampment fought their way to a win against North Park for the final home game and their final game of the regular season.

"This was probably our most complete game of the season," Bromley said, "and that is encouraging because the Regional Tournament is upon us. The Walden Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the state of Colorado and we knew that we were going to have to play hard and smart in order to beat them."

While the game started out with both seniors sitting out, Buford would eventually make her way onto the court. Little, due to a nose bleed, would sit out for the first half. While the Lady Wildcats were keeping Encampment on their toes, many of the sophomores were not getting as flustered as they had earlier in the season. Amber Stubbs continued to put herself into the fray to get the ball and would, in the third quarter, foul out.

"Our girls came out with intensity the entire game and I believe that is what got us the win," said Bromley. "If you can get three players in double figures in a game, that is true teamwork and I feel that our girls shared the ball really well."

At times, Lady Tigers and North Park were going basket-for-basket as Encampment worked to maintain their lead on the Lady Wildcats. Two 3-pointers from James at the beginning of the second half helped keep the Lady Tigers ahead. Even Tiezen scored a 3-pointer against North Park in the fourth quarter.

James led Encampment against the Lady Wildcats with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Buford scored 14 points and had 4 assists and 4 steals. Tieszen scored 13 points, had 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

Following their games last week, the Lady Tigers are 7-14 for the season and 1-7 for conference.

In a final pigtail play-in game, the Encampment Lady Tigers fell to Saratoga by a score of 55-42 which ends their season.