Three straight road games saw the Powell Panther girls’ junior varsity team lose two of three contests, losing to Cody 49-39, defeating Lovell 37-23 before losing to Lander 52-28 to move to 9-3 on the year.

In Cody on Jan. 23, coach Troy Hildebrand said that both teams came out very aggressive and it was a high-paced game throughout.

After the first quarter the Panthers held a 17-13 lead, but the Panthers struggled to take care of the ball from that point forward.

Cody battled back in the second quarter and held a 26-25 lead at halftime, which grew slightly further out to a 35-33 lead heading into the fourth.

The Fillies built a five-point lead in the fourth and closed it out at the free throw line in a 49-39 contest.

“This was a great game for us to play against a quality opponent that really pushed the pace on us and made us work very hard to execute our offense,” Hildebrand said.

Ivy Agee led with 12 points, Emery Hernandez had eight, Kaedenze Carter had six, Neveah Garcia and Shelby Zickefoose had four each, Hali Hancock had three and Leah Graham had two.

In Lovell, the Panthers took an early lead and never looked back despite an uncharacteristic night offensively.

“We took an early 12-1 lead and kind of kept it there throughout the whole game,” Hildebrand said.

That lead held at 19-9 at the half and 31-15 after three quarters before it finished at 37-23.

“Kaedenze shot the ball pretty well for us in this one with 11 points but outside of her we had our toughest shooting day of the season,” Hildebrand said. “They definitely made up for it with strong defense to keep a comfortable lead.”

Hernandez ended up leading with 12 points, Carter had 11, Garcia had six, Agee had four while Graham and Hancock had two each.

Last Friday the Panthers went to Lander for a second time, falling once again to the Tigers.

The Panthers started well and trailed only 11-9 after the first, but an injury in the second quarter altered the lineup and Powell trailed 29-19 at the half.

Powell scored first in the third, before a 13-0 run the rest of the quarter sealed the game for Lander.

The hosts went on to win 52-28 and defeated Powell for the second time this year.

Hernandez led with nine points, Agee had five, Hancock and Carter had four each while Graham, Garcia and Zickefoose had two each.

Powell will head to Worland on Friday, and will host Buffalo on Saturday as all three levels of Panthers, boys and girls, will take the court against the Bison starting at noon.