Tigers push past Farson-Eden

After three quarters of an evenly matched game, Encampment's Lady Tigers pushed forward near the end of Saturday's game to crush conference rivals Farson-Eden 48-31.

The game against the Lady Longhorns also saw a top scorer in Konnar Knotwell, who tied for the most points with Alyssa Barkhurst. Both girls scored 17, while Cassidy Little followed with eight, and McKenzie Powell finished with two.

Knotwell also made a huge step up from Friday's conference game against Cokeville, in which she scored only four points, and followed Cassidy Little's 18 and Barkhurst's eight. Coach Amy Clay said she was impressed with Knotwell's scoring turnaround from one game to the next.

"She was one early on where somebody asked me about her, and I said she was our 'secret weapon'," Clay said. "I still think she is. She's a good shooter, and she can really knock it in."

Encampment stayed fairly even with Farson-Eden in the first half of the game, and didn't really drive it home until the fourth quarter. In Saturday's game, Encampment was ahead 24-23 at the end of the third quarter, after leading 10-8 and 17-14 at the end of the first and second quarters.

In an unexpected twist, the Lady Tigers racked up 24 points in the fourth quarter, marching what they scored in the first three quarters combined. The Lady Pronghorns could not make a come back and the game ended 48-31.

The weekend conference win put Encampment at 6-4 (non-conference) and 1-1 (conference).

Clay said Saturday's fourth-quarter takedown came from her girls relaxing a bit, and overcoming any fears they had in the first half. She said her girls may have been worried about more possible disappointment, after Friday's 30-50 conference loss to Cokeville.

"I think we relaxed and just played Tiger basketball," Clay said. "We played really good last night against a tough team, and today you worry about letdowns after you've played that hard. But, we finally got it going in the second half. We do need to speed it up because we can't wait until the third and fourth quarter, but it seems to be working."

Knotwell said she was proud to earn so many points in a game, and saw the whole team work together in several areas.

"It feels good and helps the team out a bunch, and you do whatever you can," Knotwell said. "I've been working on my outside shooting and three-point shooting, and it really pays off in the end. We had really good communication and only nine turnovers, which is good for us. We took it to the hoop and tried to get fouls, and we're doing good on our free-throws and trying to make those."

The junior varsity Lady Tigers lost their two-quarter Saturday matchup against the Lady Pronghorns, 13-17. The JV girls also lost 6-23 against Cokeville, and Emily Morgan scored five of the six points.

Encampment's Lady Tigers play a third conference matchup at Hanna, starting at 4 p.m. this Friday. Results from Tuesday's game at Walden, Colo. were not available at press time.