The Powell High School freshman girls basketball team closed out its regular season with a win over Riverton, then took fourth at a tournament in Worland.

The young Lady Panthers posted an overall record of 13-8.

Powell 46, Riverton 21

On Feb. 17, the Lady Panther freshman team traveled to Riverton and came away with a 46-21 win over the Lady Wolverines.

Freshman coach Chelsea Peek said her squad “came out with a tough defensive showing in the first quarter.” The Powell girls held Riverton to just a free-throw while scoring 12 points of their own.

The second quarter proved similar to the first, as Powell went on to score another 11 points to Riverton’s eight for a halftime lead of 23-9.

“From there, the Panthers never looked back,” Peek said, adding that the defense that day “was clicking on all cylinders for this game. Everyone gave great effort all game long.”

“I’ve been saying it all year, but it was another great team win,” the coach added. “It was a great way to finish up our regular season.”

Paije Johnson led the way with eight points, while Madi Fields, Rose Graft and Cassidy Miner each scored six points. Tegan Lovelady put up five points, Hailee Hyde had four points, Emery Terry scored three points and with two points each were Madison Lowery, Sidney Karst, Mattie Larsen and Alissa Staidle.

Freshman Tournament

On Feb. 24, the Lady Panthers entered the Freshman Tournament in Worland as the No. 2 seed. Powell went 1-2 in the tourney to finish fourth overall.

The first opponent was Thermopolis. Powell trailed 9-6 at halftime, but Peek said the Lady Panthers “were able to get their offense going in the third quarter, scoring 11 points.”

The Lady Panthers took a 17-12 lead heading into the final quarter of play and went on to win 21-19.

Graft led the way with 10 points, Hyde scored eight points, Fields had two and Miner one.

For game two of the tournament, Powell and Cody met for the third time this season.

The Lady Panthers “never really got their offense going, only scoring 17 points in the game,” Peek said.

Powell lost to Cody, 47-17.

Fields and Miner led the Lady Panthers with four points each while both Graft and Hyde scored three points. Larsen had two points and Karst one.

Game three of the tournament put Powell against Douglas.

“After falling in the first quarter 13-2, the Panthers battled back to score 11 points in the second quarter, making the game 23-13 at half-time,” Peek said. The team was ultimately unable to recover from the early deficit and lost 38-22.

Terry concluded her season with a career high of six points, Hyde scored four points and Lowery, Karst, Larsen, Fields, Staidle all had two points each. Graft and Lovelady scored one point apiece.

“Unfortunately, we did not have the showing that we would have liked in this tournament,” Peek said. “However, the end of the season tournament cannot take away what these girls have accomplished throughout their freshman season of basketball.”

The coach added that, “We had our highs and our lows, but in the end, these girls got better at basketball and became better teammates to one another and I continued to see improvement in them from beginning to end.”

“I truly enjoyed coaching these girls this season and I’ll be sad to see them move up next year, but I am very excited to see them grow the next three years. I think they have a bright future ahead of them,” she said.

The team had 12 members: Graft, Emery Terry, Lowery, Hyde, Karst, Larsen, Lovelady, Johnson, Fields, Staidle, Miner and Kaylee Stewart. Maritza Corro and Paige Hamilton served as managers.