Saratoga's Heather Oxford tries to grab a pass from teammate Justine Fourman while amidst Lady Miner defense during Saturday's game. The Lady Panthers beat Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow 60-43.
Saratoga's Lady Panthers got back into a game winning stride Saturday, beating Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow's Lady Miners 60-43.
The Lady Panthers had suffered hard losses earlier in the season, and currently hold a 5-11 non-conference record and 0-4 record for conference play. Saturday's game marked a possible turnaround for the Lady Panthers, after fans watched them win by nearly 20 points.
Saratoga had the game in the bag early that Saturday, ending the first quarter leading 19-6. The Lady Panthers kept pummeling the Mines throughout the game, even reaching a 25-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
In addition to the varsity win, the junior varsity Panthers also won 19-11 against HEM.
Justine Fourman, who scored 15 points for Saratoga, said she knew her team would have a great full game after such an impressive first half.
"When we scored 32 in the first half, I know we wanted to meet it the second half and score 64," Fourman said. "On defense we really picked it up, and we were running our diamond correctly."
Head coach Matt Love said he was pleased to see his girls get both a win and major confidence boost from the game.
"I was hoping for that, and it was good to see the girls play with a little more confidence," he said. "I want to take these next couple of weeks playing these non-conference teams to get a little better, and maybe make a run here in the conference. Our conference is so tough, though."
Love said the team's press is what helped them in the long run.
"It's nice when you can press, cause some turnovers, get some steals and capitalize on it," he said. "What we're trying to get better at is the pressing, and it's tough to press some of the teams in our conference just because they do have good ball handlers in there."
Meredith Lincoln came out as Saratoga's top scorer with 19 points, followed by Fourman's 15, Heather Oxford (11), Haley Soles (6), Mati Love (4), Katie Loose (3), Peyten Fisher (1) and Kelsie Samson (1). For HEM, scorers included Brittany Dys (12), Haley Clark (11), Cheyenne Tomkins (7), Maggie Johnson (5), Darby Bowen (5), Shelby Bowen (3) and Cheyenne Hunter (2).
The Lady Panthers will next see how they fare in Encampment's homecoming game, which takes place at 4 p.m. Friday in Encampment. Following is a Panther home game against Big Piney, which begins at 1 p.m. Saturday.
HEM's Lady Miners play Little Snake River at Baggs, starting at 3 p.m. Friday.
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