Panthers making a statement

The Saratoga Panthers appear to be making a statement early in their season that they shouldn’t be underestimated.

Over the weekend, the Panthers hit the road for the Wrangler Invite in Shoshoni where they went 3-0 in yet another preseason tournament. Saratoga faced two 1A teams and one 2A team as they took on the Burlington Huskies, the Meeteetse Longhorns and the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies.

“The Shoshoni Tournament was a great tournament for us and a chance for us to play some good teams and get some much needed varsity experience,” said Jason Williams, head coach of the Saratoga Panthers. “Last weekend’s games at the Carbon County Classic showed us some areas we needed to work on and we saw some great improvement in those areas we focused on.”

Saratoga vs. Burlington

Thursday evening served as a rematch between Saratoga and the Huskies, who had fallen 76-70 to Saratoga at the Carbon County Classic. Their meeting in Shoshoni marked the second match-up between the defending State Champions and the young, but hungry Panthers.

“We led from tip to buzzer and 13 boys got to play,” said Williams.

Fischer Williams led the scoring against the Huskies with 25 points and was followed by Hazen Williams with 13 points. Burris Berger scored 12 points and had 9 rebounds, Finn Rolseth scored 10 points and had 8 rebounds and 5 blocks and Snowdon Williams scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.

Berger was one rebound away from a double-digit rebound, which would have made for the fourth double-double of the weekend.

The final score was 78-60, Saratoga.

Saratoga vs. Meeteetse

On Friday morning, Saratoga faced off against the Longhorns of the 1A Northwest Conference for the first time.

“Meeteetse is a very quick and athletic team,” said Williams, “and it was good for our boys to get experience against a team like that.”

Again, 13 boys were able to get time on the court in what would be a nearly 30 point lead over the Longhorns.

Finn Rolseth led in scoring this time with 25 points and 10 rebounds, Fischer Williams followed with 15 points and Snow Williams scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Jace Westring also contributed to the win with 5 rebounds.

The final score was 69-40, Saratoga.

Saratoga vs. Rocky Mountain

On Friday afternoon, the fur flew as the 1A Panthers and the 2A Grizzlies met on the hardwood.

“After spotting them an early 10 point lead, we fought back to within 1 point by the end of the 1st quarter,” said Williams. “From there it was a back and forth game, with neither team getting more than a 5 point lead.”

According to Williams, it proved to be one of the most exciting games of the weekend with a total of three lead changes in the last minute of the game.

“Finn Rolseth sank two free throws with less than 5 seconds left to put us up by one point and then got a block at the buzzer to preserve the win,” said Williams. “The game also saw a ? court buzzer-beater shot by Rocky Mountain to close out the 3rd quarter.”

Fischer Williams led in scoring against the Grizzlies with 29 points and was followed by Finn Rolseth who scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds. Snowdon Williams scored 6 points and had 7 rebounds.

The final score was 66-65, Saratoga.

Christmas Break

The Saratoga Panthers will get a chance to rest over the holiday break as they prepare for conference play. When they return from break, Saratoga will host the Wind River Cougars at 3 p.m. on January 5. Later that month, they’ll face three conference foes in the Cokeville Panthers, Encampment Tigers and Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers.