The Encampment Lady Tigers came away empty handed from the Carbon County Classic Tournament, losing to Dubois, Wright and Saratoga.
Friday night, the Lady Tigers opened against non-league Dubois (1-2 overall) with a tough 42-44 in overtime loss.
“The girls were disappointed,” head coach Amy Clay said. “They know a lot of hard work is going to pay off.”
Clay said if the girls had hit more of their free throws, they would have won. They only hit 6 of 20 free throws.
Clay said she went over the tapes Monday morning, and there is a lot Encampment can fix.
Against Dubois, Alyssa Barkhurst scored 16 points, while Cassidy Little had 10 rebounds and scored 12 points. Jennifer Morgan scored 8 points and Ashley Loftice added 6.
“We will move forward … there will be some bumps in the road,” Clay said. After losing against Dubois, Clay said the Lady Tigers were hanging their head apologizing for their loss. “That’s cool because it means they have passion,” Clay said.
With one practice before a road game against Rock River, Clay said the team will concentrate on jump shots, passing and boxing out their opponent.
The Tigers fell to Wright (2-1 overall) 22-47. The Tigers held a lead for the first five minutes of the game, but Wright stepped up their offense and led by 5 at the end of the first quarter.
The Tigers did improve their free throws against Wright completing 53 percent.
The Wright team double-teamed Alyssa Barkhurst, stopping her drives in the lane. The 25 turnovers didn’t help either, Clay said.
“The girls played a better defense,” Clay said, but the Wright team had more players and subbed as many as them five at a time.
The Lady Tigers played a tighter second-quarter game scoring, four points to the Panthers five. In the closing minutes of the half, stretching their lead to 15 points.
The third quarter was even more brutal for the nine-member team. Wright scored 12 points to Encampment’s 3.
The Lady Tigers found their groove in the last quarter pouring in 10 points, but the Wright Panther’s lead was too much.
Against Wright, Taylor Pedersen scored 7 points and made three out of four free throws.
Cassidy Little scored 6 points, Loftice 3, Morgan 2 and Hooker 1.
In the final game of the day, the Encampment Lady Tigers went up against an experienced Saratoga Panthers squad.
“I think they ran out of gas,” Clay said of the 21-30 loss to Saratoga (2-1 overall).
“I am really proud of them, not a one of them said they were tired. I bet they slept really well Saturday night.”
The Tigers were able to keep pace with Saratoga for the first half, but went scoreless in the third quarter.
“The were too quick to shoot,” Clay said. “They would have one shot and then would be back to playing defense.”
Clay said, adding that with experience the girls will get there.
In Saratoga game, Barkhurst led with 12 points, Little had 5 points and Morgan and Loftice finished with 2 points each.
The Tigers have a young team consisting of mostly freshmen playing their first games of the season.
Clay said the freshmen are ball savvy, and that helps. Junior Jennifer Morgan is her most experienced player. Morgan and Ashley Loftice have stepped into leadership roles. Loftice did not play basketball her junior year, but rejoined the team as a senior so the team would have enough members to play.
“They are both helping the younger players,” Clay said.
This is also the first year of playing basketball for 4’9” junior Michelle Hooker..
Last night, the Lady Tigers played at Rock River. Results were not available as of press time.
The plays Friday at North Park, 4:30 p.m.
Encampment’s next home game is against the Rawlins JV, Dec. 11, 4:30 p.m.
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