Lady Panthers take down Shoshoni

As the Saratoga Lady Panthers returned to the hardwood following winter break, they went 1-1 over the weekend with a loss on the road and a win at home. On January 7, Saratoga was swept up by the Southeast Lady Cyclones but were able to follow it up with a hard fought win against the 2A Shoshoni Lady Wranglers on Friday.

Lady Panthers vs. Lady Cyclones

When Saratoga was hosted by the Lady Cyclones on December 12, it resulted in a 13-point deficit for the Lady Panthers as they fell 33-45. While they may have been coming back looking for a win, it would ultimately be swept away from them.

"The Southeast game was a tough game, easily our worst game of the season," said Heather Bartlett, head coach of the Lady Panthers. " I can't really put a finger on why we didn't play well there, things just didn't mesh well for us that day for some reason, it seemed like all of the players were having a bad game on the same day.  It was just one of those things that happens sometimes."

Sophomore Whitney Bennett led Saratoga against the Lady Cyclones with 11 points and 8 rebounds and was followed by senior Savannah Wells with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

The final score was 27-44.

Lady Panthers vs. Lady Wranglers

Following their loss on the road, Saratoga returned to the Panther Den on Saturday to host Shoshoni. As they worked to put their loss to Southeast behind them, the Lady Panthers would sink their claws into the higher conference Lady Wranglers.

While Shoshoni would lead by a single point at the end of the 1st quarter, 10-11, both teams would go throughout most of the game either tied or switching leads as the 2nd and 3rd quarters ended with the Lady Panthers leading 22-21 and 33-32.

"I actually felt really good about the Shoshoni game. Shoshoni is a pretty decent 2A team and to get a win over them was a great win for us. We got into foul trouble early which hurt us in the first half. We were still up by 1 (point) going into halftime," said Bartlett. "The second half I felt like we played really well especially on defense and were able to rattle Shoshoni and get some good momentum."

That momentum would carry the Lady Panthers through the final quarter as two of Bartlett's starters would foul out but keep Saratoga in the lead over the Lady Wranglers.

"I thought all the girls rallied well and were able to hold on for the win," Bartlett said. "Whitney Bennett especially had an exceptional game this game and really showed the caliber of player that she is with a double/double."

Bennett scored 25 points and had 12 rebounds, 8 steals and 3 assists. Following Bennett was junior Sam Fiedor with 8 points and 6 rebounds. Senior Tasia Daley scored 6 points and had 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Despite her foul trouble, Wells also contributed to the win with 5 points, 3 rebounds and 4 steals.

Following their 1-1 weekend, the Saratoga Lady Panthers are now 3-3 for the season and will face the Encampment Lady Tigers, who are also 3-3, on Friday.

Saratoga will be hosted by Encampment at 4:30 p.m. on January 15.