Lady Tigers take a split on Homecoming week

The Encampment Lady Tigers went 1-1 during homecoming week as they lost a hard fought game to the Southeast Lady Cyclones on Friday night and took down the Rock River Lady Longhorns on Saturday afternoon.

Lady Tigers vs. Lady Cyclones

The Lady Tigers were handed a tough loss by Southeast, 44-30. The Lady Cyclones simply outplayed Encampment in the second half of the game and the Lady Tigers had no answers to stop Southeast’s high power offense.

In the 1st quarter, both the Encampment and the Lady Cyclones started at a slow pace but things started to pick up after two minutes of play. It went back and forth with turnovers and misses but it would be the Lady Cyclones taking an 11-6 lead at the end of the 1st quarter.

Going into the 2nd quarter the Lady Tigers quickly got back into the game with 6:40 on the clock. At that point it was 11-10 Southeast lead. Encampment failed to take the lead on two missed free throws but quickly got the ball back and turned it into a 12-11 Lady Tigers lead. Encampment then extended the lead 14-11

At 4:50 on the clock, the Lady Cyclones had a chance to tie the game up but missed both free throws. With less than four minutes remaining, both teams slugged it out but it was the Lady Cyclones who took control of the last two minutes of the 2nd quarter and, as a result, Southeast took a 25-21 lead over the Lady Tigers.

In the 3rd quarter, the game was scoreless for almost three minutes until the Lady Cyclones finally scored. The Lady Tigers quickly made some baskets and the score was 27-24 with 5:06 on the clock. Encampment missed two free throws with under three minutes on the clock. In the final two minutes, the Lady Cyclones scored eight more points and Southeast had a strong 35-24 lead at the end of the 3rd quarter.

The Lady Cyclones took over the 4th quarter and were able to score nine more points and held the Lady Tigers to only six points as Southeast came out on top with a 44-30. The Lady Cyclone’s defense was way too much for Encampment to handle. The Lady Tigers knew they were going up against a tough team so there was no disappointment.

“Southeast is a real disciplined team and I mean extremely disciplined,” said Kevin Pantle, head coach of the Lady Tigers. “They are really athletic and a tough matchup. They were missing a few of their girls but were able to win. This is a program that is used to going to the state championship and they are one heck of a program”.

Lady Tigers vs. Lady Longhorns

Encampment bounced back Saturday afternoon in a big win against the Rock River Lady Longhorns, 45-31. The Lady Tigers put on a dominant second half led by Kristie Jordan, Regin Stewart, and Savannah Fagan.

Jordan made a key steal which helped keep the game out of reach from the Lady Longhorns along with two important free throws that helped the Lady Tigers get a hard-earned victory over Rock River. Despite some players being out due to injury, Encampment made up for their Friday night loss to Southeast.

“It was mostly my teammates that helped set me up for the steal”, Jordan said. “It just happened out of the blue and when I got to the free throw line I said to myself ‘Let’s get this game over with.’”

Stewart also made some great shots in the backfield which helped the Lady Tigers build their confidence. She said the team pulled through when they needed to and hustled the entire four quarters. Stewart called it an outstanding team effort.

“We made a lot of hustle and played well together,“ Stewart said. “Our team was able to get a good chance on each play to pull off the win”.

The Lady Tigers biggest motivation was that they wanted to win on their homecoming. After their loss to Southeast, they knew they could not afford to lose two in a row. Fagan said she was proud that her team was able to come together despite the hardship of losing some players to injury and illness.

“I am really proud of us as a whole, “ Fagan said. “We really gave ourselves a lot of positioning and unfortunately we did not have our whole starting five out on the court this time. We worked and went with the flow. We were unselfish and gave each other a lot of chances”.

Fagan said she wanted to make sure the team played much better than the day before which was the big difference in their performance, especially for the celebration of homecoming week.

“Our intensity was really high today,” Fagan said. “It was our homecoming so obviously we were pumped. The difference from today compared to Friday’s game is that we did not play much together as a team and we cracked under pressure.”

In the 1st quarter the Lady Tigers and Lady Longhorns went toe to toe for eight minutes.

Both went at a slow pace but things picked up with 4:19 on the clock when Encampment took a 5-4 lead. It went back and forth on misses and turnovers and as a result, the Lady Tigers took a 9-7 lead at the end of the 1st quarter.

Going into the 2nd quarter with 5:33 on the clock, the game was tied 9-9. The Lady Longhorns took a two point lead with 5:14 on the clock. The Lady Tigers quickly tied it up at 11-11. Then with 2:53 on the clock Rock River regained the lead at 13-11. With only 20.5 seconds on the clock the Lady Longhorns scored again to make it 14-11. Then with 0.7 seconds later the Lady Tigers tried to score but missed and got the foul. Both shots were made and the score was 14-13, Rock River with the halftime lead.

The 3rd quarter turned into a stranglehold where both teams had trouble scoring. At 6:40 on the clock the Lady Tigers tied the game at 14-14 with one free throw. With under 6:30 on the clock, Encampment made some baskets and widened the lead at 21-14.

The Lady Longhorns scored two points at the free throw line with 5:03 remaining on the clock. Rock River would score again with 2:17 on the clock to make it 21-17, Lady Tigers. Then within under two minutes both teams would score back and forth and as a result, the Lady Tigers took a 25-22 lead at the end of the 3rd quarter.

In the 4th quarter the Lady Tigers showed what they were made of. With 6:48 on the clock, neither team had scored. Both Encampment and Rock River missed shots at the basket and the game was stopped for a few minutes due to a minor finger injury to the Lady Tigers, The Encampment player left the game and did not continue. The Lady Longhorns quickly tied the game at 6:34 on the clock. The Lady Tigers would answer back with 6:10 on the clock to take a 27-25 lead.

Then with 3:07 on the clock the Encampment increased the lead to 29-25. Both the Lady Tigers and Lady Longhorns made some quick baskets and the score was now 30-25. With under three minutes both Encampment and Rock River turned it into a shoutout but it was Lady Tigers Jordan, Stewart and Fagan who helped seal the deal on difference and the Lady Tigers got a 45-31 victory.

The Lady Tigers’ win on homecoming showed why they played better than the day before due to being short handed and they responded well under pressure.

“We played a good half yesterday but it seemed like we ran out of gas and we were down a girl,” said Pantle. “Today we just fought a little bit harder and we just tried to stay with the game plan and our rebounding started to show up again”.

Pantle also credited Jordan for her key steal which helped lock in the win for the Lady Tigers. He said his girls put on the pressure on Rock River at the right time.

“I was really happy we drew that up in the time out and put pressure on Rock River and we set back to anticipate that pass,” Pantle said. “ I am proud that the team is listening and really starting to execute”.

Following this weekend’s games, the Encampment Lady Tigers are 7-6 for the season and 1-1 in conference play. The Lady Tigers will have a rematch against their Valley and conference rivals, the Saratoga Lady Panthers (4-8, 1-3) at 4 p.m. on February 2 in Saratoga. They will then face the Upton Lady Bobcats at 11 a.m. on February 3 at Natrona County High School in Casper.