State champs! Powell Lady Panthers win first-ever 3A state basketball title

Posted 3/17/15

But that nervousness wasn’t shared by the Powell girls down on the basketball court.

“We always talk about just having no doubt, and just knowing that we just do what we do. So there’s no reason to get flustered,” said senior point guard …

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State champs! Powell Lady Panthers win first-ever 3A state basketball title

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The Lady Panthers’ 13-point lead had long disappeared and — with Lovell High School suddenly up by five points in the fourth quarter of the Class 3A title game — you could feel unease set in among the Powell High School faithful at the Casper Events Center.

But that nervousness wasn’t shared by the Powell girls down on the basketball court.

“We always talk about just having no doubt, and just knowing that we just do what we do. So there’s no reason to get flustered,” said senior point guard Jenni Ebersberger. “I knew that we could just flip the tables.”

“The whole game, we just kind of had it in our hearts that we were going to win,” said PHS junior Breanna Donarski.

Sophomore Kalina Smith hit two huge 3-pointers to put the Lady Panthers in charge of the championship game, and clutch free throw shooting from sophomore Dani Asay, senior Megan Wagner and Ebersberger clinched the 58-52 win over Lovell. It was the first official girls basketball title in Powell High School history, following a total of six runner-up finishes.

Smith said the thought of losing the championship after opening wins against Worland (51-37 on Thursday) and Mountain View (31-14 on Friday) pushed the girls.

“We worked so hard on Thursday and we worked so hard [Friday], and we were not going to just throw it all up today after we worked so hard to get to this point,” she said as the team celebrated its victory Saturday night.

“The thing that I was most impressed with was that these girls — they meant business, I guess is the best way to say it,” said PHS head coach Scott McKenzie of the girls’ three-game run to the title.

Powell 58, Lovell 52

Powell (22-4 for the year) and Lovell (21-5) had met four times before Saturday, each game tough and close. Just a week earlier, the Lady Bulldogs had edged PHS 45-41 for the Class 3A West regional title.

In the early goings of the 3A championship, it looked like Powell might get its first easy win.

Donarski knocked down a 3-pointer just before the first quarter buzzer to put Powell up 20-7.

But Lovell came roaring back with a 20-9 second frame.

Lovell’s Charri McArthur punctuated the rally with a 3-pointer just before halftime. That narrowed the PHS lead to two, 29-27.

By the end of the third quarter, the teams had battled to a 36-36 stalemate.

The teams were still tied in the fourth quarter, at 39-all, when Lady Bulldog Chayli McArthur converted a 3-point play. Then, LHS’ Lauren Hinckley stole PHS’ inbounds pass and McArthur made a second-chance basket.

Suddenly, with less than five and a half minutes remaining, Lovell was up, 44-39.

Like his players, “I wasn’t worried because there was so much time left,” said McKenzie. “It was obvious that it was going to be a game of spurts.”

During a timeout, McKenzie told his squad “that it was going to be our turn to hit our spurt.”

Wagner made a free throw on PHS’ next possession, then Ebersberger came up with a steal and a basket.

“Jenni (Ebersberger) was definitely a floor general and she kept us calm, when we were down five,” McKenzie said. “She had their attention, and she was letting them know that we were going to come back and get the lead again.”

After a Lovell miss, Wagner grabbed the rebound. The ball made its way to Smith, who drained a trey to put Powell back on top, 45-44.

Smith said she’d been cautious earlier in the game.

“Once we were down, I was like, ‘Well, I’m not about to lose the state championship game,’ so I just focused on the rim and I said, ‘I’m going to put this one in,’ and I let ‘er fly,” she said.

“Good players in those situations rise to the occasion, and there’s no doubt that Kalina’s a fantastic player,” McKenzie said.

Smith stuffed the Lady Bulldogs on their next possession and nailed a second triple to put PHS up 48-44 with 3:25 left.

Lovell cut the lead to two, 49-47, with 1:48 remaining and fouled Asay. She cooly knocked down both free throws, but Lovell again came back with a basket to pull back within two.

With 52 seconds remaining, the Lady Bulldogs put Wagner — at that point 2 for 6 on free throws — at the line.

Wagner said she was focused on tucking her elbows — something that junior Anissa Warner, sidelined for state and regionals by a knee injury, helpfully reminded her from the bench.

She canned both tosses.

“I was confident. Not nervous,” Wagner said. “I was confident in my team this whole time, too. I knew we could do it. We were fine.”

McKenzie said that, statistically speaking, Lovell picked the right person to foul.

“That’s the beauty of basketball, is sometimes, the numbers, you’ve got to throw them out the window and it’s the moment in time and the focus and determination,” McKenzie said. “(I’m) just so happy for Megan to make those in her senior year.”

Ebersberger — one of the state’s best free throw shooters — made five of six in the closing seconds to finish off Lovell.

She led all scorers with 21 points, going 6 of 8 from the floor and 7 of 8 from the line. Smith followed with 11 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Junior Danna Hanks and Asay each had seven points. Wagner had six points and rebounds. Donarski had four points and five rebounds. Richelle Phister had two points.

Powell shot 15 of 36 (41.7 percent) from the floor — including making 5 of 9 from beyond the 3-point arc — and 23 of 34 (67.6 percent) from the free throw line.

Every Powell girl who played multiple minutes added in at least one free throw.

“We run and shoot free throws for all 70 practices this year and it paid off,” McKenzie said.

He praised his entire roster, including Donarski and Hanks, who had steady all-around seasons and tournaments.

“Those two girls are tough and gritty and play hard,” McKenzie said. “We had them guard the best girls on other teams whenever they can, and they stepped up and accepted that role and [I’m] very proud of them for their efforts, too.”

McKenzie further complimented the bench players — Phister, Asay and sophomore Tayli Stenerson — for their play in crucial minutes at state.

“Those three gals filled their roles,” McKenzie said.

He also said the team is looking forward to getting Warner back next season and seeing more from sophomore Jennifer Bonander.

McKenzie also had praise for the Lady Bulldogs, saying he has great respect for the program run by coach Chris Edwards.

“They do it right,” McKenzie said.

Lovell shot 17 of 40 (42.5 percent) from the floor and 14 of 19 (73.7 percent) from the free throw line.

The Lady Panthers out-rebounded Lovell 26-16.

Powell 31, Mountain View 14

In the first half of Friday’s semi-final game against Mountain View (19-8), Powell managed only one basket and a banked-in 3-pointer from Donarski, but that was enough for a 5-0 lead.

“We’ll probably go down in Wyoming girls basketball history with that one somehow,” said McKenzie. “We just couldn’t make any shots; Mountain View couldn’t make any shots.”

Neither team made it to the free throw line in the low-scoring half, either.

“We actually had to kind of giggle about it in the locker room,” McKenzie said.

Powell’s offense warmed up in the opening minutes of the third quarter, using additional screening to keep Mountain View’s zoned defenders at bay.

“These girls are just such great athletes and smart that we could draw that up at halftime and go out and execute it,” McKenzie said.

Aided in part by another 3-pointer from Donarski, the girls opened up a 13-0 lead. Mountain View  made four free throws in the third period, but wouldn’t get its first field goal until the fourth quarter and never came within 11 points.

“Our girls just played great defense,” McKenzie said, adding later that, “It was a different kind of a semi-final, but a win is a win.”

Donarski led with 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting and had six rebounds. Hanks had nine points and five rebounds. Ebersberger had five points, followed by four from Smith, two from Asay and one from Richelle Phister.

PHS shot 12 of 30 (40 percent) from the floor 5 of 11 (45.5 percent) from the free throw line; Mountain View shot 4 of 33 (12.1 percent) from the floor and 6 of 9 (66.7 percent) from the line. Powell had 19 rebounds to Mountain View’s 22.

Powell 51, Worland 37

PHS wasted no time in dealing what amounted to a first-round knockout punch to Worland (19-8) on Thursday. Over the first 5:30 minutes, Powell sprinted to a 15-0 lead.

“They just got out and got after them right away,” McKenzie said of the PHS girls. “I think we knocked Worland back a little bit.”

Worland never really got back into the game, trailing by 11 or more points the rest of the way. PHS had led 28-12 at the half.

Smith led all scorers with 15 points. Hanks followed with 13 points (on 6 of 8 shooting) and nine rebounds. Donarski had 10 points. Ebersberger had seven points and six rebounds. Wagner and Asay had three points apiece, with Wagner collecting five rebounds.

PHS shot a stellar 20 of 34 (58.8 percent) from the floor and 10 of 17 (58.8 percent) from the free throw line. Worland shot 10 of 46 from the floor and 13 of 21 from the free throw line. Powell out-rebounded Worland 29-20.

McKenzie thanked his players’ parents, school administrators and the community for their support of the Lady Panthers this year and his “incredible” assistant coaches — Troy Hildebrand and Gary Phister.

“We spent a lot of time with those young ladies and we’re just so happy for them,” McKenzie said. “Happy for the girls, happy for the school, happy for the community, you know, really happy for coach (Dale Ann) Meeker, coach (Steve) Bailey, coach (Luke) Danforth, coach (Wayne) Meidinger — you know, some of those coaches that got Lady Panthers basketball started years ago — and it was nice to be a part of that tradition.”

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