Panthers secure spot for State

The Saratoga Panthers have officially punched their ticket to the 1A State Basketball Tournament, returning to Casper for the third year in a row. 

The Panthers' will enter the state tournament and will return to the Ford Wyoming Center as the No. 2 West Seed. That placing came after Saratoga dealt losses to the Ten Sleep Pioneers and the Farson-Eden Pronghorns before falling to the Dubois Rams in the championship round.

"Our goal for the regional tournament was first and foremost to qualify for state," said Head Coach Jason Williams. "We were fortunate enough to achieve that goal on Friday night and a second place finish at the West Regional Tournament is something the boys should be proud of. I was extremely proud of how hard the boys played all weekend long and never gave up.

Panthers vs. Pioneers

The quarterfinal round of the 1A West Regional Tournament pit No. 1 Southwest Saratoga against the No. 4 Northwest Pioneers. Ten Sleep had a season record of 7-10 and were 1-5 for conference games, compared to the Panthers whose season record was 14-5 and were 7-1 in conference play. 

on a down note and went into intermission up 26-20," said Williams. "The boys came out in the 3rd quarter and used their defense to build a comfortable lead to go into the final frame. We had a very balanced attack and finished with four players with a double-double."

J.D. Buttle led Saratoga against the Pioneers with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Heston Fisher and Grant Bartlett followed, each with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Grady Bartlett rounded out the double-doubles as he scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds.

Kelton Johnson contributed to the win with 8 points and Geoffrey Johnson scored 6 points and had 5 rebounds.

With a final score of 67-43 in favor of the Panthers, Ten Sleep were sent to the consolation bracket as Saratoga advanced to the semifinal round.

Panthers vs. Pronghorns

On their way to the championship round, the Panthers faced Farson-Eden for a third game between the conference foes.

"Like the other two contests, this was a hard fought, physical, defensive game," Williams said. "This might have been our best defensive effort of the season."

When Saratoga had faced the Pronghorns during the regular season, both matches ended with a set of baskets separating the score. In January, the Panthers hosted a determined Farson team before walking away with a 4 point lead. Then, just two weeks before the regional tournament, Farson-Eden hosted the Panthers and were dealt a 6 point loss by Saratoga.

On Friday afternoon, the Pronghorns brought that same determination to the semifinal round with Saratoga.

"The thing about Farson is, they never quit, so we knew we were going to have to play hard until the final buzzer, and we ended up needing every point," said Williams.

Grant Bartlett took the lead against the Pronghorns, scoring 15 points. Buttle followed with 13 points and 13 rebounds, his second double-double of the weekend. Grady Bartlett aided in the win all around with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

The final score was 36-35, Panthers.

After dispatching Farson-Eden and ensuring their trip to Casper, all that remained was to determine seeding. 

Panthers vs. Rams

In the championship round, the Panthers faced another No. 1 team in Dubois, who they had not faced during the regular season. The Rams came into the 1A West Regional Tournament with a season record of 20-2 and had gone undefeated, 6-0, in conference play.

"Saturday we played a very good squad from Dubois. We started off slow and they started off hot and we ended the 1st quarter with a 22-7 deficit," said Williams. "However, we played them even for the next three quarters and lost by 15 (points). I was, again, very proud of the boys and their effort."

Playing against the Rams, Grady Bartlett took the lead as he scored 10 points and had 7 rebounds. K. Johnson followed with 9 points while Grant Bartlett scored 6 points and had 7 steals and 6 rebounds. Buttle scored 6 points and Fisher scored 4 points and had 5 rebounds.

The final score was 52-37, Dubois.

The quarterfinal round of the 1A State Basketball Tournament will see the No. 2 West Panthers face the No. 3 East Lingle-Fort Laramie Doggers. The matchup between Saratoga and the Doggers will begin at 7:30 p.m. on March 3 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.