Still looking for a win

The Encampment Lady Tigers are still in search of a win following their loss to the Saratoga Lady Panthers (9-7, 4-1) on Saturday. With a team that has no seniors and is composed of juniors and freshman, it has been a learning season for the Lady Tigers and Head Coach Clint Bromley is seeing the silver linings in each game.

"I thought this was the first complete game we had played since the start of the season and I am excited to see if it is going to carry over this weekend," said Bromley. "The girls have been working hard and I truly believe they are capable of getting a conference win if they stay the course and give it everything they have for an entire game."

It's not only Bromley who is seeing the silver linings during this learning season. Junior Lizzi James is also looking at the positives from the weekend.

"The game against Saratoga on Saturday didn't have the outcome we all wanted but it wasn't all bad," said James. "We let them have some easy baskets that could have been prevented on defense but we forced a lot of turnovers in the second half with our press."

In January, when Saratoga hosted Encampment, the Lady Panthers ended the game with a 9 point lead. On Saturday, the Lady Tigers would trail by 16 points when the buzzer rang.

"Overall, I think we played hard all four quarters and we learned a lot about what we need to work on for the upcoming weekend," James said.

Shiann Finney would lead the Lady Tigers against Saratoga with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. James would follow with 6 points and 7 rebounds. 

The final score was 33-49.

"Our juniors are playing well and we need a couple of the freshman to contribute on offense and defense to achieve a win," Bromley said.

This weekend Encampment will hit the road for more conference games as the regular season begins to come to a close. On February 14, the Lady Tigers will be hosted by the Cokeville Lady Panthers (14-2, 4-0) and by the Farson-Eden Lady Pronghorns (6-12, 1-4) on February 15.

"I know the pressure is really on all of us to get a win this weekend in order to get a shot at regionals," said James. "All we can do is use what we know and play the game we are capable of to reach our goal. We have to go into this weekend with the mindset we can win."

With only a few regular season games left before the regional tournament, James feels that the Lady Tigers have already come a long way this season from where they started.

"I think we have seen a lot of progress this year out of everyone individually and as a team," James said. "I think just the experience of being in a varsity game goes a long way, especially for younger players. Throughout this year we have all only gotten better."

Following this weekend, Encampment is 5-11 for the season and 0-6 in conference play.

The Lady Tigers will be hosted by Cokeville on Friday beginning at 4 p.m. Encampment will then be hosted by the Lady Pronghorns at noon on Saturday.