Panthers return to the top

The Saratoga Panthers returned to the top spot in the difficult 1A Southwest Conference this weekend as they dealt losses to the Cokeville Panthers (7-8, 2-3) and the Farson-Eden Pronghorns (11-3, 4-2). 

As the regular season draws to a close, the defending state champions will play two more conference rivals and prepare to host the 1A Southwest Regionals Quad. 

“The Cokeville/Farson road trip is always challenging, and those are both tough places to play,” said Jason Williams, head coach of the Saratoga Panthers. “It seems like we have struggled in the past on that trip so to get a sweep over two quality opponents on the road was huge for us, and also very important as far as conference standings.”

Panthers vs. Panthers

While the two Panther teams had been scheduled to play in Saratoga earlier in the season, the purple-and-gold Panthers had been quarantined and made this their first meeting of the season. While Cokeville had come into their season with a roar and had briefly enjoyed the top spot in the conference, it was not to last as Saratoga returned to the hardwood. 

Senior Teegan Love led Saratoga in their win against the orange-and-gold Panthers as he scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds and 4 assists. Fellow senior Noah Rimmer followed with 14 points and 5 rebounds. The Bartlett Bunch also assisted in the win against Cokeville as Grady Bartlett scored 7 points and had 4 assists, Gavin Bartlett scored 5 points and had 7 assists and 4 rebounds, and Grant Bartlett scored 5 points and had 6 rebounds.

All those points added up with a nearly 30 point deficit that the hosting Panthers couldn’t get out of.

The final score was 60-36.

Panthers vs. Pronghorns

Following their takedown of Cokeville on Friday, the Panthers stalked into Farson-Eden to sink their claws into Farson-Eden and secure a second conference win. While the Pronghorns may have evaded the Encampment Tigers the night before, they would be unable to do so against Saratoga.

It was Rimmer who led the Panthers to their second win of the weekend as he scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds. Gavin Bartlett followed with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists while Grady Bartlett also scored 11 points and had 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Love scored 3 points and had 4 rebounds and 4 assists while Grant Bartlett scored 3 points and had 3 rebounds and 2 assists. JD Buttle also contributed to the win with 2 points against the Pronghorns.

The final score was 48-28.

“The boys played great defense and I thought we were as patient on offense as we have been all year, which led to higher quality shots,” Williams said. “The boys took care of the ball on offense and we rebounded well. These were great time wins as well. In both games, we went deeper into our bench than we have in the past and those guys stepped up and played great. We got meaningful minutes from guys and they contributed significantly to the two wins.

After this weekend, Saratoga is now ranked No. 1 in their conference and are followed by their Valley and conference rivals, the Tigers, who they will have hosted on Tuesday night.

The Saratoga Panthers are now 11-2 for the season and 3-1 for conference play. After hosting Encampment on Tuesday night, they will be hosted by the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers (1-11, 0-6) on Friday.