Panthers victorious in Valley rematch

Saratoga Panthers freshman Griffin Barlett made his return to the Panther Den for the first time since January 5th. It could not have happened at a better time as the Panthers got a 70-52 win over their valley rival the Encampment Tigers.

Bartlett had been battling with an illness but joined the team on the road against Cokeville and Farson-Eden. He received a loud cheer from the home crowd when the announcer called out his name.

“It is so amazing to be back and to play on our home court,” Bartlett said. “I was looking at our schedule and this is my first home game since January 5 and it just feels so good to be back playing on our home court with my teammates, “

Bartlett said, during his recovery, all he could think about was getting well and joining his teammates. He said he was a little rusty on his return, but managed to make some big plays.

“I did well with my rebounding and passing but need to work on my layups and finishing,” said Bartlett. “I hope I will step it up on the road on Saturday but most importantly improve my layups and finish off each play but again you can’t always be perfect in those aspects of the game”.

At the start of the game, the Panthers took an early 5-0 lead and for almost six minutes Saratoga had a 1st quarter shutout going until the Tigers scored 2 points late in the quarter.

The Panthers just kept on scoring at the basket and, with under two minutes on the clock, Saratoga took a 15-4 lead over Encampment at the end of the 1st quarter.

In the 2nd quarter, the Tigers quickly made a basket and the score was now 15-6 Panthers would strike right back to take a 19-6 lead. Then with 5:21 on the clock, Saratoga went to the free-throw line and made 2 points to extend the lead to 21-6.

The Tigers would battle back hard, making three straight baskets and the score was now 21-12 in favor of Saratoga with 4:48 on the clock. Then the Panthers were able to score 7 more points and the Tigers were able to add 5 more points. The score was now 28-17 in favor of Saratoga with 3:12 on the clock.

Then with 52 seconds on the clock, the Panthers took a 35-19 lead over Encampment. Saratoga dominated the 2nd quarter and took a 38-19 lead at halftime.

Going into the 3rd quarter, the Panthers gave no mercy to Encampment as both teams battled hard for the first few minutes. Then, with 4:24 on the clock, the Panthers maintained their lead with a score of 48-33.

The Panthers would score another basket with 3:59 on the clock and the score was now 50-33. From that point on the Panthers took control of the entire quarter and the score was 52-34 at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Going into the 4th quarter the Panthers had the game locked in. With five minutes left on the clock, the Panthers would score 6 more points and the Tigers added 14 more points. The score was now 58-48. At this point, Encampment attempted to make a comeback but were denied by Saratoga’s rock-solid defense. For the last 3 minutes the Panthers scored 14 more points and allowed the Tigers to only 12 more points. There was nothing that Encampment could do to keep the game close. Saratoga came out on top 72-50.

Jason Willams, head coach of the Saratoga Panthers, said he was proud of the way his team played, especially in a valley rival game. He said he gives credit to Encampment for being a tough competitor.

“We knew that Encampment is a dangerous team,” Williams said. “They are well coached and have great athletics so we knew how important this game was for us and them. We came out with the mentality that we had to execute and play fundamental basketball from the get-go and the boys did because they rebounded well. Our rebounding is what pushed us up front in the first quarter”.

Williams said Encampment is a team you never want to count out, no matter what the score is, they are known for coming back at the end. He also said his boys responded well after a tough road trip.

“Our plan was to execute all four quarters and our boys did a good job of that, “ said Williams. “We rebounded from a tough road trip last week in Cokeville and Farson Eden. These are two teams who will be in the state tournament so to get a split we are happy with that”.

Panther Finn Rolseth said he was satisfied in getting the series sweep over Encampment. He said his team worked hard all week to be prepared for their Valley rivals.

“We have been preparing for this for a while so it feels good that our work has sort of come back to us,” Rolseth said. “Encampment is a really strong team, especially with their rebounding so I am glad we were able to match their physicality,”

Rolseth said Coach Williams reminded his players to forget about the tough road trip and focus on Encampment.

“Coach Williams said that we just need to get our game back,” Rolseth said. “We need to start running and playing our game because, against Cokeville and Farson-Eden, we were playing with them instead of playing for ourselves. Our great rebounding is what got us the win against Encampment. Coach Williams said to us during a time out that if you want to make this game close you can but get the rebounds. We listened to what he said and it worked for us.”