Panthers face Rattlers and Bucs

Lady Panthers hang tough through learning process, Panthers win by one versus LSRV, lose by one to Kaycee in overtime–secures 2nd seed for Regionals

The Saratoga Panthers hosted the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers and the Kaycee Buckaroos on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Both games would see the young Lady Panthers showing further improvement and the Panthers having a split weekend but securing the No. 2 seed for regionals.

Lady Panthers vs. Lady Rattlers

"The girls played really hard this weekend," said Heather Bartlett, head coach of the Saratoga Lady Panthers.

Bartlett added that Taylor Bennett's absence due to illness was a big loss for the girls.

Makiya Johnson, sophomore, lead the Lady Panthers against LSRV with 9 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal followed by Mycheala Jackman with 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals and Ashlyn Johnson with 3 points, 2 rebounds and 1 block.

"The surprise player from the weekend was Ashlynn Johnson," said Bartlett, "who played a lot of varsity for the first time and ended up doing a great job in both games."

The final score was 22-57, giving the Lady Panthers another conference loss.

Lady Panthers vs.

Lady Bucs

Following their loss against the Lady Rattlers, Saratoga hosted Kaycee for a make-up game on Saturday. The Lady Panthers would lead the Lady Bucs for the first half, but by the second half, Kaycee girls would overturn that lead.

"Ashlyn Johnson played a big role for us defensively in the Kacyee game by guarding their top player the entire game," said Williams.

Makiya Johnson lead the Lady Panthers, again, with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals followed by Jackman with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. Ashlyn Johnson followed with 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block.

"Makiya Johnson had two good games this weekend," said Bartlett, "her game against Kaycee was really good and she had a great shooting game."

Bartlett added that Jackman also had a great game against Kaycee.

The final score was 46-52

Following the games this weekend, the Lady Panthers are 0-8 for conference and 3-15 for the season.

Panthers vs. Rattlers

"This was the game we were focused on all week, and it was a huge conference win for us," said Jason William, head coach of the Saratoga Panthers.

Gage Bartlett would lead the team against LSRV with 22 points, 10 rebounds 9 assists and 3 steals followed by Sam Schneider with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Nate Rimmer scored 10 points against the Rattlers and Ben Fairbanks rebounded five times.

"We knew it was going to be a battle and I was proud of the boys for gutting out another tough conference win," said Williams, "It was a true team win and it took everyone on the team to earn the victory."

The final score against the Rattlers was 64-63.

Panthers vs. Buckaroos

Following a narrow win against their conference rivals the night before, the Panthers would deal with an equally narrow loss in overtime against Kaycee.

"Coming off such an emotional game the night before I was anxious to see how we would respond to come back and play a good team," said Williams.

Saratoga and Kaycee would battle up and down the hardwood, often being tied or one team barely leading the other.

"We started off a little sluggish, but overall I was pleased with our effort," Williams said.

Panthers and Buckaroos went into overtime with a score of 57-57 and the overtime game would be just as intense as it was during the previous four quarters.

"This was a great game to get us ready for regionals even though it didn't turn out the way we wanted it to," said Williams.

The final score, in overtime, was 64-65.

After this weekend, the Saratoga Panthers are 5-3 for conference and 12-6 for the season.

Saratoga will hit the road to take on Kaycee for the second time at 2 p.m. on Feb. 16 and host the Hanna, Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow (HEM) Miners at noon on Feb. 17 in the Panther Den.

 

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