The Lady Panthers basketball team competed in the Big Horn Basin Classic in Cowley over the weekend, finishing with a 2-1 record. The Lady Panthers downed Burlington 53-20 and Worland 56-36, but lost a heartbreaker to Greybull, 36-31.

Powell 53, Burlington 20

The Powell High School girls opened their tournament on Friday against Class 2A Burlington.

“It was just a good game for us coming back from Christmas,” said head coach Scott McKenzie. “It was a just a good game for all 10 girls to get pretty equal playing time.”

Eight of Powell’s 10 players put points on the board. The team was led by Rachel Bonander with 14 points, followed by Aubrie Stenerson with 13 points. Stenerson hit two 3-point shots.

Michele Wagner also scored in double digits with 12 points, all of which came from behind the 3-point arc.

The Lady Panthers finished with a total of nine 3-pointers, with Ashtyn Heny, Katie McKenzie and Karlie McKenzie all making one each.

“Think it’s been a while since we made nine 3s in a game,” coach McKenzie said.

Bonander led the team with 16 rebounds, 11 offensive and five defensive, for another double double.

Stenerson led the team in assists with five, followed by Brea Terry and Katie McKenzie with four apiece, Karlie McKenzie with three, Maddy Hanks with two and Heny with one.

“Unselfish basketball for sure,” coach McKenzie said.

The team also collected 18 steals, led by Wagner with four and three apiece from Stenerson, Karlie McKenzie and Hanks.

“I just thought the girls played hard all the way around,” coach McKenzie said.

Greybull 36, Powell 31

Greybull, another Class 2A opponent, posed a tough test later on Friday.

“They’re a nice team,” said coach McKenzie of the Lady Buffaloes. “[I] just thought they played harder than we did.”

McKenzie said the team got down early and then trailed the whole game. After the first quarter, Powell was down 9-6 and Greybull increased its lead to 22-11 going into halftime.

At the end of the third quarter, the Lady Panthers were down 34-22. The team made a run in the fourth, but ran out of clock, losing 36-31.

Coach McKenzie said the team had a hard time shooting the ball. The team shot 13 percent at the 3-point line and 35 percent from inside the arc. For comparison, against Burlington earlier in the day, the Lady Panthers shot 30 percent from the arc and 32 percent inside the arc.

Despite those percentages, if the team had shot better from the free throw line, coach McKenzie said “we possibly win that game.”

The Lady Panthers only made four out of 16 attempts for 25 percent (against Burlington, Powell shot 53 percent from the charity stripe).

Hanks led the team with 17 points.

“It was nice to see her break out with a big scoring game,” coach McKenzie said.

Coach McKenzie also said that Jasmyne Lensegrav “played good defense” on one of the Lady Buffs’ ballers.

Both Karlie McKenzie and Katie McKenzie had three steals, with all of Karlie McKenzie’s steals coming in fast break situations.

“[Karlie McKenzie] had great hustle to get down there and stopping them for us,” coach McKenzie said.

He added that, “Greybull deserved to beat us; they played better than we did.”

Greybull came into the tournament with a 6-1 record and made it to the championship match before falling to Class 3A Buffalo, 49-27.

Powell 56, Worland 36

Powell’s last match of the tournament, played on Saturday, came against fellow Class 3A school Worland.

“I was very pleased with how we bounced back from that loss [to Greybull]; very pleased with the girls’ effort,” coach McKenzie said of the win.

Bonander scored 25 points, shooting 71 percent from inside the arc and narrowly missed another double-double by grabbing eight rebounds.

Also scoring in double digits was Hanks, with 13 points to go along with six assists.

The team bounced back at the charity stripe to shoot 67 percent, and shot 59 percent from inside the arc.

All of Powell’s 56 points were scored on 2-point baskets. Stenerson finished with five steals, and the team had only nine turnovers.

The Lady Panthers now have an overall record of 5-2, and will host Douglas Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The Lady Bearcats are undefeated with a 9-0 overall record.

“We hope to give them a good game on our home floor,” coach McKenzie said.