Miners and Tigers and hoops, oh my

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

At 4 p.m. on Friday, the gym at Encampment High School should be an exciting place as Hanna Elk Mountain Medicine Bow goes head to head with the Tigers in both girls and boys basketball.

All four coaches representing the Tigers and the Miners anticipate strong competition.
Both girls coaches agree that the teams are evenly matched. Their teams have similar height, experience and records, so the coaches are expecting a good game. “It being a conference game always adds to the excitement and competition,” HEM coach Jackie Jones said.

The Miner girls are coming off a win on Tuesday over Chugwater, 48-42. Coach Jones got great performances from younger girls including Penny Blauvelt, Kayla Brown, Jennifer Korkow and Lexy Bayles. Blauvelt led the team with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Korkow contributed 14 points and Brown netted eight points. Jones said Bayles was “big off the bench,” playing aggressive defense and recording four steals.

Encampment coach Jami Krein expects the Miners to rely on outside shooting. “The game plan is to not allow them any open outside shots and really rebound hard defensively.” She plans to counteract HEM’s shooting with inside shots and offensive boards to get second attempts at the basket.

Krein also said HEM star Amanda Booth will be a strong force on the court. Additionally, she said her team’s “goal is to take care of the ball on offense. We’ve struggled with too many unforced turnovers in the last few games.” She is relying on her entire team to shoot for a win.
On the boys’ side, HEM coach Clif Jones said “Encampment is the favorite to win the conference.” They have been successful the past few years and have a lot of kids with a lot of experience, he said. “They are having a good season so far.”

Jones expects the Tigers to feature numerous defensive sets. “Really, they’re the complete package,” he said. However, he plans to send his team out to “play how they know how to play. They’ll run faster and shoot a lot.”

On the other hand, Encampment coach Clint Bromley expects a good show from Miner stars Matt Larson and Justin Palm. “If we can deal with those two, we think we can win the game. But those two guys are really tough.” Both players are 6 foot 5 inches tall.
“We definitely aren’t overlooking them at all,” Bromley said. “They’ve been playing really good as of late.”