Girls take two overtime wins

Posted 12/13/16

Playing in the East/West Classic Tournament in Cody, the Lady Panthers edged Newcastle 60-57, and Buffalo 40-38, sandwiched around a 53-36 loss to Rawlins.

“Proud of the start we are off to. These girls will work to get better,” said PHS head …

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Girls take two overtime wins

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Starting the season off with a pair of nail-biting thrillers, the Powell High School girls basketball team picked up two wins in overtime against one loss in their opening weekend.

Playing in the East/West Classic Tournament in Cody, the Lady Panthers edged Newcastle 60-57, and Buffalo 40-38, sandwiched around a 53-36 loss to Rawlins.

“Proud of the start we are off to. These girls will work to get better,” said PHS head coach Scott McKenzie. “It’s a long journey and our goal is to be the best we can be at the end of February.”

The Lady Panthers’ weekend started with a Friday night game against Newcastle.

Newcastle got out to a 29-26 advantage at halftime.

PHS took the lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but Newcastle went on a 10-2 run to end the period with a 41-34 advantage.

Powell still trailed by five, 49-44, with only about two-and-a-half minutes to go. That’s when the Lady Panthers used a 3-point play by Aubrie Stenerson, a steal by Maddy Hanks and a basket by Karlie McKenzie to tie things up.

Newcastle sank a pair of free throws to regain the advantage, but another 3-point play — this time from Jennifer Bonander — put PHS up, 52-51, with 1:18 remaining.

Powell missed two free throws in the final minute while Newcastle made one of two to draw even again.

Newcastle forced a turnover to get the last chance with the ball, but Rachel Bonander made a crucial block in the closing seconds to send the game into overtime.

The two teams were still deadlocked, at 56-all, after the first three minutes of the bonus period. But a couple of baskets from Rachel Bonander pushed the Lady Panthers ahead and the team held on.

Rachel Bonander led the Panthers with 20 points followed by Jennifer Bonander and Aubrie Stenerson, who each had 12.

“Having three girls in double figures is a really nice start to the year for us,” said McKenzie

Attacking the boards also contributed to the overtime victory, he said: Powell collected 38 rebounds, 25 on defense and 13 on offense.

On Friday morning, Powell lost to Rawlins, 53-36.

Rawlins was an attacking team that ran a half-court press, which prevented the Panthers from establishing a rhythm or routine on offense, McKenzie said.

Jennifer Bonander led the team with 11 points and sister Rachel Bonander led in rebounds with nine.

“We got a good start on what we need to work on over Christmas to continue to get better,” said McKenzie.

In both the Newcastle and Rawlins games, turnovers were high. Coach McKenzie said the team tries to have roughly 17 or fewer turnovers, but the Lady Panthers had 30 against Newcastle and 27 against Rawlins. Stats for the Buffalo game were not available at press time.

Free throws will also be an area that will be worked on, the coach said. The team has a goal of shooting 65 percent or higher. The Lady Panthers were 13-of-25 (52 percent) from the line against Newcastle, 15-for-23 against Rawlins (right at 65 percent) and 8-of-14 (52 percent) against Buffalo.

One highlight at the line came against Rawlins, when Hanks sank 70 percent from the free throw line.

On Friday night, Powell went head to head against Buffalo, winning 40-38 in overtime.

“Best game of the tournament,” said McKenzie.

Against Buffalo, Powell’s focus was on running the offense effectively and efficien tly.

“(Rachelle Cole) really did a good job offensively for us,” said McKenzie.

Dani Asay, who has been having shoulder issues, also put up some points.

“Nice to see her shoot the ball, and trust in her shoulder,” McKenzie said of Asay. “She did a nice job on the boards as well.”

At the end of regulation, the score was tied at 34.

With 36 seconds remaining in overtime, Powell had the ball and planned to try getting the ball inside the key. However, Buffalo played tough defense on the Panthers’ post players, preventing a pass inside.

Ultimately, Aubrie Stenerson hit the game-winning shot with 12 seconds left on the clock.

“Really proud of the girls’ execution,” said McKenzie.

After managing just one 3-pointer over the first two games, the Lady Panthers erupted to sink six 3-point shots against Buffalo. Jennifer Bonander had three,  Tayli Stenerson had two and Rachel Bonander had one.

Both of the Bonander girls play inside and McKenzie said it was “really fun to see the post players shooting from outside.”

Aubrie Stenerson led with 13 points for the game, while Jennifer Bonander also cracked double digits with 11 points.

The Lady Panthers are back in action tonight (Tuesday), as they play in Lovell. The girls game will start at 5:30 p.m. and the boys game at 7 p.m.

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