Pigtails not the fashion at HEM

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

Going into this weekend 3-1 in conference games, the Lady Miners hope to meet their season-long goal of staying out of the pigtail game, a game that forces them to play their way into the regional tournament.

Going up against Farson-Eden and Cokeville will be no easy task, though. Hanna Elk Mountain Medicine Bow won by a mere nine points the last time they saw Farson, and Cokeville came out 23 points ahead.

HEM coach Jackie Jones said the team’s tactic in the Farson game at 4 p.m. on Friday is to hone in on the McAllister sisters, both of whom are guards. “Lillian is the team leader,” she said. “(The sisters) really are the strength of the team.” She said the Miners were able to hold Lillian to just a few points after allowing her to lay 20 onto the scoreboard early in the season.

This time around, the HEM ladies have Crystal Hohn back in the post position. The team will see what it can do from the inside with the Hohn and Sarah McAttee duo, Jones said. Their outside shooting has been effective, “but if we can put more points up from the paint, we’re going to be that much more effective and better off come regionals,” she said.

Against Cokeville, HEM aims to play a good transition defense. Though they have not been the only victim of Cokeville’s speed, the Miners were beat in the running game last time they met. It is currently the HEM ladies’ only conference loss.

“If we come back with one win, we should be able to keep out of the pigtail game,” Jones said. She holds out a faint hope that Farson might hit Encampment, third place in the conference, with a loss while HEM picks up a win against Farson. “That would put us a game ahead of Encampment.”

With a snow day and with several girls out at various times due to the flue and high fevers, Jones hoped she would have the whole team back for Thursday’s practice. “We’ll just have to see what happens,” she said.