Tigers building for next season

Going into the the 2021/2022 season, Encampment Tigers Head Coach Duane Gilbert knew it would be a battle for any team in the 1A Southwest Conference to get to the 1A West Regional Tournament.

That battle came about on February 21 as the Tigers faced off against the Cokeville Panthers in Cokeville for a pigtail play-in game. The game marked the last of three games which brought an end to Encampment's season. They had been hosted by the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers on February 15 and hosted the Rock River Longhorns on February 18.

Tigers vs. Rattlers

Traveling to Baggs, the Tigers were hosted by LSRV for their final conference game of the season. While Encampment had been working to secure enough conference wins in the season to avoid a pigtail game, the Rattlers would ultimately deal them a loss.

"Snake River's a tough team and to go in there and try and get a win is a tough task," said Gilbert. "The boys didn't have their best that day and if you don't have your best game in Snake River, it's tough to win because that's a tough environment to win in and they're a great team."

The final score was 42-29, Rattlers.

Tigers vs. Longhorns

Three days later, Encampment hosted their final home game of the season as they welcomed the Longhorns into Tiger Nation. The game served as a final home appearance for the Tigers' five seniors, four of whom are starters.

"It was just a game we could let our seniors play in, it being their last one. They played fairly relaxed and fairly loose," Gilbert said. "It was a good one for the seniors to end on."

The final score was 72-34, Encampment.

Tigers vs. Panthers

On Monday afternoon, the Tigers took to the hardwood to face Cokeville to determine who would be going as the No. 4 Southwest seed to the regional tournament.

"They had a great student section, it was a loud gym. Their coaches adjusted a lot of things from the last time we played them," said Gilbert. "We went over what we were going to need to adjust and we were going to have to play that one flawless (sic) to come out with a win and we turned the ball over too many times to give ourselves a chance to win in that game."

The final score was 47-27, Cokeville.

While they didn't make it to the regional tournament, Gilbert believes the younger players on the team were able learn from the upperclassmen this season.

"I think one thing the younger kids can take away from this season is how no matter what team we played, we gave them a battle plum to the end. I think our young kids learned a lot from our upperclassmen about that," Gilbert said. "That if you go in with the mindset that you can play with a team, you sure have a great chance of playing with any team in the conference."

Next season will be another building season, with four starters graduating this year. Gilbert has confidence the Tigers will continue to grow and learn.

"There's a lot of shoes to fill, again, but we have some great underclassmen that got some time here and there and are starting to figure out the system. Anytime you get a new coach and a new system, it takes a while to learn the ropes."