Lady Tigers split first conference games

The Encampment Lady Tigers (1-1 conference, 8-2 overall) split their weekend with one heartbreaking loss against the Cokeville Lady Panthers (2-0, 7-5) and a win against the Farson-Eden Pronghorns (0-2, 5-7). The loss puts them second in conference, but they still have more than a month to work on their skills before regionals at the end of February.

The ball was hitting the bucket, but just wasn't going in, which was obviously frustrating for the girls.

Despite the 42-33 loss to Cokeville, the Lady Tigers were able to bounce back from a dreadful first quarter.

In the first quarter, the Lady Tigers were down 4-12 and that made the difference in the game, head coach Amy Clay said.

By half-time, the Tigers were still at four, but the Cokeville Panthers had scored 10 more points.

In the second half, the Tigers were ready to fight and shut the Panthers down while they gained 9 points. The third would end 23-31. In the middle of the third quarter, the Lady Tigers were close to gaining ground at 23-25, but the Lady Panthers scored 6 points in the final minutes of the quarter.

The Lady Tigers started the fourth quarter adding 2 points to the board. The Lady Tigers scored 9 points in the fourth quarter, and outscored the Panthers in the second half by 2 points, but the Panthers' early lead was too much for the Lady Tigers to overcome.

"We came out flat and Cokeville was aggressive and took it at us," Clay said. "We lost focus offensively and were out of position at times defensively."

Clay added that poor shots and too many turnovers were the downfall for the Tigers Friday night. "This is a determined group and we will give them a better game the next meeting," Clay said.

The good news for the Lady Tigers is that they shot 70 percent from the line Friday night and that has been their season goal, according to Clay.

Noelle Peterson led the scoring against Cokeville with 9 points. She also had three steals. Paige Powell scored 6 points, made four of her four free throws and grabbed nine rebounds.

Alyssa Barkhurst and Cassidy Little each added 6 points to the board, with Cassidy sinking four of four at the line. Barkhurst had two assists and Little had 5 rebounds.

On Saturday, the Lady Tigers came out strong against the Farson/Eden Lady Pronghorns, outscoring them in the first quarter. The Pronghorns played catch up toward the end of the quarter, with it ending 10-9.

The second quarter was not so kind to the Lady Tigers as they only scored 3 points. The Pronghorns took advantage and were ahead at the half by 4 points 13-17.

The third quarter wasn't looking so good as the Pronghorns continued to keep the lead. The Pronghorns returned every point the Tigers made, keeping their lead until the last two minutes of the quarter. The Lady Tigers tied the game, then Tigers' Micaiah Pantle took a shot in the last 30 seconds to take the lead 30-28.

The Lady Tigers hung on to their lead throughout the last quarter, with Noelle Peterson leading the charge. She scored the first 4 points in the final quarter.

The Lady Tigers outscored the Pronghorns in the second half of the game 32-19, taking the win 45-38.

In the win against the Pronghorns, the freshmen strutted their stuff. Powell had a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Peterson led the scoring with 14 points and missed having a double-double by one rebound.

Senior A. Barkhurst had 9 points. Miciah Pantle had 6 points and four assists and Little had 4 points.

This week is homecoming week for the Lady Tigers and they have a full plate ahead of them. Thursday, the Lady Tigers play North Park at 4 p.m. Friday, they travel to Hanna to play Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow, and Saturday they host Platte Valley rival Saratoga Panthers. While none of the games are conference games, the Lady Tigers are ready to do their best for their homecoming crowd.