Planning for the future

On the night of Feb. 18, the Encampment Lady Tigers traveled to Hanna, Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow (HEM) High School to play the Saratoga Lady Panthers to determine who would go to the 1A West Regional Tournament. While the game would see both teams go basket-for-basket in the first half, the second half saw the Lady Tigers fall behind Saratoga, who would eventually win the game with a final score of 42-55.

Senior Noelle Peterson scored 23 points against the Lady Panthers and had 9 rebounds. According to Clint Bromley, head coach of the Lady Tigers, this was one of Peterson’s best games of the season.

“She will definitely go down in history as one of the most prolific scorers and rebounders in Encampment school history,” said Bromley.

Fellow senior Lauren Buford score 6 points and had 11 rebounds while junior Riley Little and sophomores Grace Tieszen and Shiann Finney each scored 4 points.

The loss to Saratoga brought an end to an already difficult season for the Lady Tigers as they played with only seven girls throughout the season. With the loss of a key player from the year before, the Encampment girls worked all season to figure out how to move forward. The sophomore players of the team, because of this, were consistently played and got plenty of varsity experience.

“This was definitely a disappointing season for the Lady Tigers who, in the past four years, have won a State Title, been 3rd twice and then (did) not qualify for the tournament,” Bromley said. “But, like all little schools, there tends to be more drastic swings from good to bad because of the number of athletes in your program. The loss of two key players made a big difference in our program and presented us with a hole that never really got filled.”

Looking forward, Bromley believes this will help improve the focus for the program next year and to rethink the offseason.

“We are sad to see Noelle Peterson play her final game as a Lady Tiger and we wish her well in the future,” said Bromley.

The Encampment Lady Tigers ended their season 7-14 for the season and 1-7 for conference.