{gallery}03_12_09/savannahdonarski{/gallery} Jackson's Sydney Leichliter (42), Powell's Savannah Donarski and their respective teams enter this year's Class 3A state tournament looking to earn spots in Saturday's championship game at the Casper Events Center. Tribune photo by David Dickey Lady Panthers head to stateDon't get them wrong — the Lady Panther basketball team is shooting for a slot in the Class 3A championship game on Saturday.But for now, the Powell High School girls have their sights firmly set on today's (Thursday's) 9 a.m. game against the Lady Tigers of Lander.

“We're going to take it one game at a time,” said PHS head coach Luke Danforth.

The Lady Panthers (21-2) enter the state tournament as the No. 1 seed from Class 3A's West Conference. They earned that spot after emerging as the champion in last weekend's regional tournament in Worland.

It takes three straight wins in Casper to claim the state title, but Coach Danforth said his squad must be focused on the first matchup.

“If you're not, you're probably watching the third game instead of playing in it,” he said.

Lander (13-15) sports a potent offensive, led by Lady Tiger Ruth O'Neal.

Coach Danforth has heard from colleagues that O'Neal ranks as one of the state's best players.

“She's definitely a force,” Coach Danforth said.

O'Neal, who averaged 18.7 points and 13.5 rebounds a game in the regular season, is coming off a career-best 32-point performance at the 3A East Regional Tournament, according to the Lander Journal.

That unstoppable force may meet an immovable object in the form of the stingy Lady Panther defense.

In their three victories last weekend, PHS held its opponents to just 27-percent shooting — much as they did all season.

“We're going to rely on that (defense) to carry us,” Coach Danforth said. He also wants his team to attack the basket, something he said they did well at last week's regional tournament.

Hannah Pollart led the team by averaging 16 points a game and 9.3 rebonds. Savannah Donarski followed with 14.7 points and seven rebounds, and off the bench, Leslie Thronburg averaged 8.3 points and 4.3 rebounds.

Despite edging out the Lady Broncs of Jackson 44-41 in overtime last weekend, the PHS coach sees them as the early state favorite.

“You've definitely got to give Jackson the edge on everybody,” Danforth said. “They're still the 3A defending champions.”

But more generally, he said, “it's a wide-open tournament.”

The coach said the West Conference teams are all playing well, and the east's squads have largely beaten up each other.

No. 1 Powell, No. 2 Jackson (22-3), No. 3 Cody (15-10) and No. 4 Lovell (15-10) from the West Conference will be met at the state tournament by No. 1 Torrington (14-10), No. 2 Buffalo (17-7), No. 3 Glenrock (19-5), and No. 4 Lander Valley.

Coach Danforth said his squad has used last year's state experience — where they finished fourth — as motivation for this year.

“I think the girls have a good feeling of what to expect. They should feel confident about being there,” he said.

An opening victory over Lander would pit PHS against the winner of a Buffalo-Cody matchup. A defeat would face them against the loser of that contest.

Full brackets are available at www.whsaa.org.