Lady Panthers hungry for more wins

Following two difficult losses the week before, the Saratoga Lady Panthers headed into Christmas break with a much needed win as they hosted the Guernsey-Sunrise Lady Vikings on Friday.

The double-digit win over Guernsey-Sunrise gives Heather Bartlett, head coach of the Lady Panthers, more of a baseline on what to work on over break.

As the 1st quarter got underway, the Lady Panthers got a slow start against Guernsey-Sunrise though still keeping a lead against the visiting team. While the Lady Vikings scored 2 points in those first eight minutes, Saratoga put up 9 points of their own.

"The first half, I wasn't very happy-especially the 1st quarter-with how we showed up. We didn't come out sharp, we didn't come out very intense. I was a lot happier with how they played the second half," said Bartlett. "I felt like we picked it up and we got to where we needed to the second half."

In the 2nd quarter, the Lady Panthers picked up their scoring as they threw another 12 points on the board to lead 21-3 going into half-time. For the Lady Vikings, a single basket in the 1st quarter and one successful free throw in the 2nd quarter following a defensive foul from Sam Fiedor, who served as a wall against Guernsey-Sunrise.

In the second half, the Lady Vikings were able to force turnovers but were unable to capitalize on them. Saratoga, meanwhile, continued to push their lead as they put up another 15 points on the scoreboard in the 3rd quarter and ended it 36-4. In the final quarter, the Lady Panthers initiated a running clock and, while they scored another 12 points, Guernsey-Sunrise would remain scoreless.

Whitney Bennett scored 18 points against the Lady Vikings and had 12 rebounds and 4 steals. Savannah Wells followed with 15 points and 3 steals. Shelby Knotwell, Olivia Everett and Fiedor each scored 4 points. Tasia Daley had 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals while Sam Duke had 3 assists.

The final score was 48-4.

With two weeks to practice before entering the regular season, Bartlett has an idea of what would need to be improved over Christmas break following the win against the Lady Vikings.

"We're going to spend a lot of time shooting and finishing and just getting our offense a little more solidified. I've been trying to figure out what is going to work best," Bartlett said. "We have a lot of new players this year, so I've been taking some time this preseason just trying to figure out who's going to fit best where and which offense is going to work best for us. I think there's a pretty good baseline on that now, going forward, so we'll be focusing on that."

Bartlett said she expected good numbers for practice over the holiday vacation and that the Lady Panthers would be hitting practice "pretty hard".

"I think it'll go well for us," said Bartlett. "We have a lot of girls that are pretty hungry to get back to state this year and are getting the feeling of winning."

Following their win over the Lady Vikings, the Saratoga Lady Panthers are now 2-2 for the season. They will host the Southeast Lady Cyclones at 7 p.m. on January 7.