Lady Panthers take down Farson-Eden

The Saratoga Lady Panthers had a full weekend of conference games. Battling Cokeville and Farson-Eden, the Lady Panthers showed their teeth against both teams. First, Saratoga fought a close loss to Cokeville, 45-53, on Friday. Turning around Saturday, they won against Farson-Eden 49-40.  

"We had a big conference weekend at home playing Cokeville and Farson. We felt like it was a very successful weekend," said Head Coach Heather Bartlett.

Lady Panthers vs. Lady Panthers

The Saratoga Lady Panthers came out strong against the Cokeville Lady Panthers. Saratoga secured an early lead on the Lady Panthers and maintained great ball control in the first half of the game. Playing man-to-man defense the Lady Panthers slashed at Cokeville maintaining the lead until the second half. At half time the score was 31-32 and both Panther teams seemed ready for a big cat fight to take the win. Both teams used the second half to steal the ball. As the dust settled the Cokeville Lady Panthers were on top winning 45-53.

"We did lose to Cokeville, however they are one of the best teams in the state. We played them to within 8 points and had the lead for half of the game.  We felt really good about our game against Cokeville, the girls played great and we are excited to play them again," said Bartlett.

Whitney Bennett scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals against Cokeville. Rhiwan Williams scored 7 points and had 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Sam Fiedor scored 6 points and had 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Maddie Teishman scored 6 points and had 1 rebound, 1 assist and 3 steals. Allie Condict, Olivia Everett, Sophia Diaz and Anna Peterson each scored 2 points for the Lady Panthers. 

On February 12 the Lady Panthers will have another chance to play the Cokeville Lady Panthers in Cokeville. 

Lady Panthers vs. Lady Pronghorns

The Saratoga Lady Panthers pounced on the Farson-Eden Lady Pronghorns first thing Saturdayt.

With assertive defense and a large focus on passing, the Lady Panthers quickly took the lead. Slashing into the Lady Pronghorns, Saratoga held the lead at halftime 18-16. The Lady Pronghorns weren't ready to go down without a fight, dominating the 3rd quarter and flipping the game.

The Lady Pronghorns continued to use their horns and push the Lady Panthers into the final quarter, leading 32-28. The Lady Panthers showed their teeth in the final quarter.

Focusing on risky long passes the team was able to regain the lead and winning the long battle against Farson-Eden, 49-40.

"Our game against Farson was a little more stressful than we had hoped. Sam Fiedor, our senior leader, was sick on Saturday and didn't play and that left a big hole in our team.  Despite Sam being gone the girls pulled together and pulled off a good conference win over Farson," said Bartlett. "Whitney Bennett had an outstanding second half (especially the 4th quarter) against Farson. She scored 29 points in the game, with 20 of those points coming in the second half, and14 in the 4th quarter."

 Bennett scored 29 points and had 14 rebounds, 5  assists and 4 steals against the Farson-Eden Lady Pronghorns.

"Anna Peterson came in and started for Sam. In the 4th quarter she played defense on Farson's best player and held her to 2 points that quarter, that was really big for us," continued Bartlett.

Anna Peterson scored 6 points and 3 rebounds for the Lady Panthers. 

"Rhiwan Williams also had a good performance against Farson with outstanding defense during the entire game," Said Coach Bartlett 

Williams scored 9 points and had 9 rebounds, and 1 assist in the game. Olivia Everett  scored 7 points and had 4 rebounds and 3 steals for the Lady Panthers. 

The Saratoga Lady Panthers will next face the Farson-Eden Lady Pronghorns on Feburary 11 at Farson-Eden. 

Overall the Saratoga Lady Panthers are 7-2 for overall season and 2-1 for conference play. The next home game for the Saratoga Panthers will be January 29 against Southeast/Yoder. The next away game will be Saturday February 5 in Encampment against the Lady Tigers.