Cokeville, Farson evade Lady Tigers

The Encampment Lady Tigers faced two conference foes over the weekend as they hosted the Cokeville Lady Panthers on Friday and the Farson-Eden Lady Pronghorns on Saturday.

As the Lady Tigers worked to find their footing on the hardwood, they saw moments in which they were leading both conference rivals during their home matches. Ultimately, however, Cokeville would deal a double-digit loss to the Lady Tigers while the Lady Pronghorns would narrowly evade Encampment.

Lady Tigers vs. Lady Panthers

On Friday afternoon, the Lady Tigers started out strong against Cokeville as they took an early, but narrow, lead in the 1st quarter. While the Lady Panthers threw up points quickly in the opening minutes, a 3-pointer and two free throws pushed Encampment ahead for a brief moment. Before the 1st quarter ended, however, Cokeville regained their lead, 10-15, over the Lady Tigers.

In the 2nd quarter, the Lady Panthers slowly increased their lead against Encampment. While the Lady Tigers were able to put some points on the board, Cokeville scored plenty of their own and, at half-time, the score was 14-32.

Returning to the hardwood, the Lady Panthers continued their control of Encampment's court. While the Lady Tigers were able to put 10 points on the board during the 3rd quarter, Cokeville capitalized on errors to put up 17 points of their own and went into the final quarter leading 24-49.

The lead established by the Lady Panthers continued to grow in the 4th quarter and, eventually, ended the game with a 30 point lead over Encampment.

"Cokeville's more like a machine and they've got 12 girls sitting on the bench and nine or 10 of them are quality players," said Clint Bromley, head coach of the Lady Tigers. "I thought there were times that we played really well against them. I thought there were points in the game where we won and I thought there were points in the game we were pretty even. Their sheer numbers wear on you."

Cora Schroeder scored 10 points and had 4 rebounds against Cokeville and was followed by Lizzi James with 7 points and Amber Stubbs with 6 points.

The final score was 32-62.

Lady Tigers vs. Lady Pronghorns

Following their loss to Cokeville, the Lady Tigers returned to the hardwood on Saturday to host Farson-Eden. While the Lady Pronghorns would speed out to an early lead against Encampment, the Lady Tigers worked to close the gap and make it a close game.

While the 1st quarter ended with Encampment trailing 7-16 against the Lady Pronghorns, a 3-point brought the Lady Tigers back into the 2nd quarter. Throughout the 2nd quarter, however, Farson-Eden would force turnovers and use it to their advantage and would go into halftime leading 14-25 over the Lady Tigers.

In the 3rd quarter, Encampment put their head down to close the lead that Farson-Eden had gained in the first half. That determination would appear to pay off as the 3rd quarter ended with the Lady Pronghorns ahead by only 5 points, 25-30. 

During the final eight minutes, that lead would continue to shrink with Encampment trailing by a single point. With 2:52 left, however, Schroeder fouled out and the Lady Tigers would stay at 34 points while Farson-Eden would put three more points on the board to win the game.

"You have times you think you ought to win a basketball game and, definitely the Farson game, we thought we had a chance to win the game," C. Bromley said. "I was happy with our effort with Farson, they came out and played hard. When we lose Cora and Lizzi off the floor we're in trouble because, with only eight girls, we don't have much of a bench. So, those two are pretty key for us."

James scored 18 points against Farson-Eden going 8 for 11 from the free throw line and had 11 rebounds and 2 assists. Schroeder scored 5 points and had 4 rebounds and Allison Bromley scored 4 points and had 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

The final score was 34-37.

For homecoming week, the Encampment Lady Tigers will host the Rock River Lady Longhorns at 4 p.m. on January 29 and the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Lady Rattlers at noon on January 30.