Panthers earn weekend split

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

The Lady Panthers returned home after a traveling weekend with a Friday win against Farson-Eden, 42-36, and a loss to Cokeville on Saturday, 71-41.

Saratoga High School coach Josh Sandlian saw his girls leave the bus without their heads in the game on Friday evening. “We were a little shaky in the first part, and our shots just weren’t falling,” he said.

The Panthers were also having trouble finding a defensive game that would work against Farson-Eden. Trying to shut down a couple of standout guards, Saratoga waffled between defending a man and a zone.

Despite several points at which the two teams were tied, Sandlian’s team led going into the second half. They maintained the advantage — leading by as many as 11 points at one point — up until the buzzer.

“(Farson-Eden) fought back to make it a close game at the end, but we did what we had to do to win,” Sandlian said.

The girls fine tuned their shooting in practice. Sandlian set the goal of 60 shots per game, and on Friday Saratoga just about reached it with 58. Unfortunately, they bucketed just 15 of those.
“We’ll be home for the next three weeks,” Sandlian said. “I’ve told them that we should have the chance to sink shots in our home gym.”

The Panthers had a lazy first half in Saturday’s game on Cokeville’s turf. After spending the night in Rock Springs, it seemed to suddenly hit home that the team had spent most of its season on the road, Sandlian said.

When they started the weekend, the Panthers “felt confident that if (they) beat the press, (they) could do well,” Sandlian said. However, their first half was rough. Channing Love earned a call for traveling as well as four fouls before halftime. The score was 44-19 in favor of Cokeville as the teams went into the locker room.

“I told the girls, ‘you girls need to find a way to win,’” Sandlian said. “The coaches can’t do it for you, your parents can’t do it for you. You and your teammates have to find it. You just have to want it.”

The pep talk paid off in the second half, as Saratoga stepped up to limit Cokeville to 27 points while they raked in 22. “They found a way to fight back and keep it close,” Sandlian said.
Returning home this weekend, Saratoga should play Hanna Elk Mountain Medicine Bow at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Wyoming Indian at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.