Panthers pound HEM; play tough against Lusk

Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow (HEM) played at Saratoga last Friday night in a game that allowed all of the Saratoga men’s squad playing time.

“HEM was a game we needed to win, we played well and won,” head coach Josh Sandlian said.

The game started out at a very fast pace, and both teams were up and down the court without much rest in between. The Panthers got out to a good lead early in the game, and held that lead for the entire match. Last week, Sandlian emphasized the need to increase the free throw percentage, and it was visible right away that the Panthers had worked on it in practice. With a good lead mounted, Sandlian got a chance to go to his younger squad in the last minutes of the first and second quarters.

At the start of the second period, experienced starters were back on the hardwood and producing good numbers. Cameron Collamer was 100 percent from the arc and 6 of his 12 points came from three pointers in that quarter.

Jake Fourman and Ben Faulk both played good basketball on both ends of the floor. Fourman had 12 points and Faulk put up tough defensive stands. Fourman also pulled down 4 rebounds and had 3 steals on the night. Daniel Kerbs also got in double digits, scoring 10 to help his team with the win.

Coming out of the locker room in the second half, the Panthers were playing even better offense and hitting enough of their free throws to allow younger players on the squad to take over. At the end of three quarters, the score was a comfortable 49-16 and the panthers continued to dominate through the final buzzer.

“We had a lot of young kids play in the second half and they held HEM to one field goal in the half,” Sandlian said. “That showed they were working hard and playing good defense.”

Saratoga beat HEM with a very strong score of 61-21.

The next night the Lusk Tigers (12-1) (5-0) were in the Saratoga (4-9) 0-4) gym for their second conference match up of the season. The Panthers had a tough go with the Lusk Tigers and although the final score didn’t show it, the boys played hard against Lusk.

“We played well in the first and third quarters,” Sandlian said. “If we put together four quarters we would have had a better chance.”

The Panthers rebounded well against the Tigers pulling in 23 total rebounds but only 5 came on the offensive end of the court.

“Its tough to beat teams like Lusk when you don’t get second and third chances at the rim.” Sandlian said. “Lusk shot a lot of free throws hitting 12 of 25 and we only went to the line 5 times.”

Saratoga was giving Lusk a run through the first, finishing the quarter down by only 2 points. In the second, Lusk pulled away despite offensive flashes and good play from the Panthers.

After half time Saratoga was forced to play catch-up and although the Panthers played a great third quarter, the effort was not enough to come back. Turnovers hampered the offense and when the Panthers did get shots, they just did not fall. Lusk came out on top 46-64.

Next for the Panthers will be a road game against Southeast in Yoder on Friday, and a home game Saturday against Snake River. Southeast will also be a conference match up for the Panthers.

“Southeast is struggling this season and if we play like we have been for the last two weeks, we’ll be fine,” Sandlian said “Snake River is one of the top 1A teams and it will be a good challenge for us. We haven’t beat them in the last couple years, so it is one of our goals this season.”

Saturday’s games against Snake River will start at 12:00 at the Panther Den.

 

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