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“We’re looking forward to an opportunity to maybe shoot for two,” PHS head coach Scott McKenzie said.
First up for Powell (16-8 overall) is a rematch with Newcastle (19-4), who beat PHS 42-34 in December.
“We were at that point trying …
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PHS opens tourney against Newcastle today
Powell High School’s girls basketball team will attempt to defend its Class 3A state title at 4:30 p.m. beginning today (Thursday).
“We’re looking forward to an opportunity to maybe shoot for two,” PHS head coach Scott McKenzie said.
First up for Powell (16-8 overall) is a rematch with Newcastle (19-4), who beat PHS 42-34 in December.
“We were at that point trying to figure out who we were ... and obviously they (Newcastle) are better now, too,” McKenzie said.
If Powell wins, they’ll advance to play at 6 p.m. on Friday against the winner of a game between Star Valley (16-4) and Torrington (13-11). A loss would have the Panthers playing the loser of that game at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
McKenzie said the Panthers’ road to a possible repeat title “is pretty tough,” but “you have to beat (good) teams to win it.”
As far as a tournament favorite, “you’ve probably got to give the nod to Worland,” McKenzie said of the 22-1 squad.
Newcastle is the only team to have beaten Worland’s Warriors — though Worland soundly beat them at the eastern conference’s regional tournament. McKenzie said the Newcastle squad was missing one of their top players last week, but “I’m sure she’ll be back for us.”
In handicapping the field, McKenzie also highlighted Star Valley — the top seed from the West and fresh off a pummeling of No. 2 seed Mountain View (17-6).
Rounding out the state field are Lovell (15-8) and Rawlins (13-11).
There were no real upsets at last week’s regional tournaments. In each of Class 3A’s four divisions — Northwest, Southwest, Northeast and Southeast — the top two teams from the regular season advanced to state.
“There’s going to be some great first-round games,” McKenzie predicted. He expects the Powell-Newcastle contest to be probably “the” game of the first round.
Statistics compiled by WyoPreps.com say that of the eight teams at state, Powell ranked eighth in scoring (43.6 points per game), fifth in defense (allowing 38.7 points per game) and shooting percentage (37 percent), fourth in free throw shooting (62 percent) and second in rebounding (33.5 per game) during the regular season.
