Hustling Lady Tigers split weekend

In their first games following the winter break, the Encampment Lady Tigers saw a split weekend as they hosted their Valley and conference rivals, the Saratoga Lady Panthers and saw a 34-30 win before traveling to Hanna on Saturday to face the Hanna, Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow (HEM) Lady Miners where they lost 42-46 in overtime.

Lady Tigers vs. Lady Panthers

The seven-member Encampment girls, who are still finding their feet on the hardwood, kept control of their court and managed to keep the Lady Panthers (3-6, 0-1) at bay as they hosted Saratoga on Friday. While the Lady Tigers were off to a slow start, they ended the first half of the game with a five point lead and kept a lead throughout the second half as well.

"They're a young, great JV team, but they're taking little baby steps as a varsity team," said Clint Bromley, head coach of the Encampment Lady Tigers.

Senior Noelle Peterson led the team against the Lady Panthers with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore Lizzi James had 8 points and 11 rebounds, while junior Riley Little scored 8 points and had 4 assists and 3 steals.

Encampment was able to take advantage of errors from the Lady Panthers and showed themselves to be more aggressive in their rebounds. A highlight of the game was sophomore Amber Stubbs who, despite her small size, had little hesitation in getting in the middle of the fray. In the last three minutes of the game, in fact, Stubbs fouled out.

"I thought Amber-that was probably her best game of the year. She is making strides, she's getting better. I would expect her to improve over the next couple years and turn out to be a real good ball player," Bromley said. "She came out, she was crying a little bit. I said 'Amber, what are you crying about, this is just a game, but that was great hustle.' I thought all her fouls were hustle fouls, they weren't dumb fouls. She was just working hard and that's what happens sometimes."

Stubbs' growing comfort on the court is further evidence of the mostly sophomore team finding their place in the program. In addition to Stubbs, sophomores Grace Tieszen, James and Shiann Finney had no hesitation in attempting to get the ball from the Lady Panthers. As the game ended, the Lady Tigers were the victors with a score of 34-30 and their first conference win of the season.

"We're still having some struggles and some issues, but anytime you can get a win in our conference you've got to be happy with that," said Bromley.

Lady Tigers vs. Lady Miners

Following their conference win on Friday, the Lady Tigers were hosted by the Lady Miners (5-2, 0-0), where they would force the game into overtime. Despite their success the night before, Encampment was unable to overcome HEM on their home court and fell 42-46.

"We played 31 minutes and 42 seconds and just didn't make the right decisions in the last 18 seconds of the game to get the win," said Bromley. "When we went to overtime, HEM gained the advantage and I commend them for their play in the last four minutes."

Peterson, again, led the Lady Tigers with 19 points and 17 rebounds while James had 9 points and 10 rebounds and 4 assists and Little had 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

"I think it was a good learning experience for our team and hopefully we use that to our benefit in the future," said Bromley. "The West needs to get ready because the East is making a strong comeback and teams like HEM and Rock River are going to be teams to contend with at the State Tournament."

Following their split weekend, the Encampment Lady Tigers are 5-5 for the season and 1-0 for conference. The upcoming weekend, the Lady Tigers only have one game scheduled as they travel to Baggs to face the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Lady Rattlers (4-5, 0-0) at noon on Jan. 12.