Splitting the Valley

The Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) girls basketball team played two Valley teams this past week and the outcome was mixed. On Jan.29 the Lady Miners beat the Saratoga Lady Panthers and lost to the Encampment Lady Tigers on Saturday. On Friday the Dubois Lady Rams forfeited to the Lady Miners.

Saratoga

The game between the Lady Miners and Lady Panthers had head coach Jackie Jones having deja vu towards the end of the match because of the game they played against the Saratoga on Dec. 18. The last meeting between the two teams had Saratoga come from behind and go into overtime and win.

"We jumped out early again, just like we did when we played in Saratoga and watching that lead start to fade made me absolutely get concerned," Jones said. "The defense Saratoga played on us, double teaming Amy (Campbell), we adjusted and this allowed Taylar (Scott), Maddie (Campbell) and Jessica (Nelson) to attack the bucket."

Nelson's contribution for the Lady Miners to maintain their lead can not be underestimated said Jones.

"Jess did a nice job of getting herself to the free throw line and was seven for ten," Jones said. "Especially those free throws in the last quarter were very important to us."

Nelson went to the free throw line three times in the fourth quarter and made the shots halting any chance the Lady Panthers had for getting ahead.

Jones said although the scoring by the Lady Miners was not as strong as it had been in the first half, the team played good defense to keep the lead.

"One thing the girls pride themselves on is when another team gets a bucket and outworks them, it is pride thing for them and they definitely work hard to fix it on the next plays," Jones said. "I can count on them to work hard, even if they don't win."

The height differential that the Lady Miners face with their tallest player (Amy Campbell) being 5' 8" and the average being 5' 4" requires the Lady Miners to be quick and aggressive.

Rainey Wilson who is 5' is one such player Jones is talking about.

"Rainey is a young lady who just has a nose for the ball," Jones said. "She looks to score and even if she misses a shot or two, but Rainey is looking to do her job."

Jones said Wilson is a guard who is not intimidated by going after the ball inside defensively.

"We are talking about a little freshman who just isn't scared to face off in the land of bigger girls," Jones said.

The leading scorer was Nelson with 11 points and 7 rebounds, Scott got 10 points and 5 steals, M. Campbell had 7 points, A. Campbell 7 rebounds and Wilson 6 rebounds.

"I felt with what Saratoga did with Amy, the other girls had to step up," Jones said. "It was a total team effort."

The next game was Dubois.

Dubois

The Lady Miners got a forfeit from the Lady Rams on Friday.

Encampment

On Saturday Lady Miners went to Encampment to face the Lady Tigers where it did not go well for HEM as it had when the two teams met Jan. 5. HEM won in overtime 46-42.

This time around, the Lady Tigers won 31-19.

"The Lady Tigers had a great homecoming game on Saturday," Jones said. "They had several players who played their roles on a disciplined team to get the win."

She said the Lady Miners did not have a good scoring day.

"As a team, the Lady Miners struggled mightily shooting the basketball," Jones said. "It is hard to beat any with only 14 percent shooting."

She said the team will recover from the bad day, by doing drills to focus on their shortcomings.

She had praise for her freshman Wilson's game.

"On the day the of play, Rainey stood out," Jones said. "She was aggressive on defense and worked hard the entire game."

Jones said she is putting the Encampment game behind them and she is looking to have forward progress for the team through the loss.

""We have a lot of basketball to play before regionals, so the girls will need to refocus quickly and move on," Jones concluded.

The next scheduled game is at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 5 against Wheatland's Sophomore squad at HEM.