Lady Panthers weekend sees up and downs

The Saratoga Lady Panthers split their weekend on the road with a conference win against the Farson-Eden Lady Pronghorns on Friday and a narrow conference loss to the Cokeville Lady Panthers on Saturday.

Head Coach Heather Bartlett said it is always a tough trip, but she felt really good about their performances at both schools. She said the girls came out and played with some real grit all weekend.

Lady Panthers vs. Lady Pronghorns

When Saratoga hosted the Lady Pronghorns in January, the Lady Panthers ended the game with a 24 point lead. While on Farson-Eden’s homecourt, Saratoga again outpaced the Lady Pronghorns with a similar score.

“This was a great game for us,” said Bartlett. “We were able to jump out to a good lead in the first quarter and, from there, I was able to start subbing younger players into the game. Many of our JV (junior varsity) girls got some good playing time in this game and that was a great experience for them to get varsity minutes.”

Sophomore Rhiwan Williams scored 8 points in the 1st quarter, scoring a total of 14 in the game. She also had 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Senior Whitney Bennett was close to yet another triple double as she scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds with 9 assists. Senior Oliva Everett scored 9 points and had 2 steals and 2 assists.

Also contributing to the win were junior Anna Peterson with 7 points and 6 rebounds and senior Madison Teichman with 3 points, 4 rebounds and 5 steals.

The final score was 50-29, Saratoga.

Lady Panthers vs. Lady Panthers

Following their win on Friday, Saratoga faced off against the rival Lady Panthers on Saturday. Despite a narrow victory last month on their home court, the purple Lady Panthers wouldn’t be able to scratch out another one on the road. Though, not for lack of trying.

“The game was back and forth the whole way with multiple lead changes throughout,” said Bartlett. “The last half of the 4th quarter was very intense and we took the lead with around a minute (and) thirty left when Madison Teichman made two free throws.”

Cokeville, however, regained the lead with under a minute left. Bartlett said her Lady Panthers had several good shots near the end that could have tied the game, but they were unable to get them to fall.

“I was proud of the team’s effort for this game,” said Bartlett. “They never let up and played a fantastic game. It just didn’t end quite how we would have liked, but it was great prep for us going into regionals.”

Bennett had an outstanding game with 23 points—going 4-for-5 in 3 pointers—and had 13 rebounds and 5 steals. Williams scored 6 points and had 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Everett followed with 3 points and 2 assists. Peterson scored 3 points and had 11 rebounds and Teichman scored 2 points and had 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

Following this weekend, Saratoga is 9-8 for the regular season and 5-3 in conference play, putting them 3rd in the 1A Southwest Conference.

The Saratoga Lady Panthers will end their regular season with two non-conference games before heading into the 1A Southwest Regional Tournament.

They will have faced the North Park Lady Wildcats in Walden on February 14 and will host the Wyoming Indian Lady Chiefs for their final home game at 4 p.m. on February 17.