Comeback and a homecoming win

The Encampment Lady Tigers had a lose-win homecoming week as they hosted the Cokeville Lady Panthers (15-2, 4-0) on Thursday evening and the Hanna, Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow (HEM) Lady Miners on (11-2, 2-0) on Saturday to cap off homecoming. Despite the loss to Cokeville, the Lady Tigers managed to come back from a substantial deficit in the second half.

Encampment vs.

Cokeville

When Cokeville last came to the Valley, they left with a 50-point win over the Saratoga Lady Panthers. Despite having a smaller roster than Saratoga, the Lady Tigers were able to keep their claws in the visiting Cokeville Lady Panthers enough to prevent a running clock.

Encampment had a slow start to the game, scoring only 6 points in the entire first half of the game. In the second quarter, the Lady Tigers made one basket while Cokeville scored 15 points. This, combined with calls that raised ire from fans of both teams, lead to frustration for Encampment that was taken advantage of by the Cokeville.

"We got off to a slow start in this game and only scored 6 points in the first half and when you do that it is hard to recover," said Clint Bromley, head coach of the Lady Tigers.

As the first half ended and both teams headed to the locker rooms, the scoreboard read 6-23. When Encampment came back onto the court for the second half of the game, they began to turn it around as they scored an additional 7 points in the third quarter.

With the game wearing on and the Lady Tigers playing hard, frustration became more and more evident with many of the girls in tears as they gave it their all on the court. What seemed like a cloud over Encampment, however, had a silver lining.

"We figured some things out in the second half and actually tied them 25-25," Bromley said. "So that gives you an idea that you can compete with this caliber of a team if you play to your potential."

In the fourth quarter, that is exactly what the Lady Tigers did as they scored nearly 20 points - more than they had scored the rest of the game combined. As each basket was made by Encampment, the fans of Tiger Nation roared with excitement. With eight minutes in the game to make a difference, every basket, every point, was a victory in itself and was treated like one.

As the game ended, the score was 31-48. The Lady Tigers trailed by 17 points, but could walk off the court knowing that they were able to make their conference rivals fight for the win.

Senior Noelle Peterson led the team against Cokeville as she scored 12 points and had 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Fellow senior Lauren Buford followed with 7 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals.

Encampment vs. HEM

The last time the Lady Tigers and HEM met was when the Lady Miners hosted them on Jan. 5 and sent Encampment home with a 4 point loss. The Encampment girls, however, were not about to lose as their homecoming week came to an end.

"This was a close game at half, with HEM leading 12-13 and we made some adjustments in the locker room and finished with a 19 to 6 second half for th win," said Bromley.

With a combined total of 31 rebounds, the game against the Lady Miners was one of the best rebounding games that Encampment has seen this year.

"I thought our girls rebounded well and played the best defensive second half of the year," Bromley said. "We got a little more contribution from our guards and that was good to see as we are getting closer to tournament."

Sophomore Lizzi James led the team against the Lady Miners, scoring 10 points and had 10 rebounds. Peterson followed with 9 points and 8 rebounds while Buford scored 4 points and had 13 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Lady Tigers hit the road this weekend following their 1-1 weekend where they will get a rematch against Cokeville at noon on Feb. 8 and will be hosted by the Farson-Eden Pronghorns at noon on Feb. 9 as the regular season begins to draw to a close.