Lady Panthers play unselfish ball

Posted 1/10/17

Powell 51, Glenrock 20

Powell High School’s first opponent on Friday was a head-to-head matchup with Glenrock. The Powell girls posted a 51-20 win.

“It was a good first game back from Christmas break for us,” said head coach Scott …

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Lady Panthers play unselfish ball

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Getting contributions from its entire roster, the young Lady Panther basketball team showcased a well-rounded approach in going 2-1 at the Big Horn Basin Classic Tournament in Thermopolis.

Powell 51, Glenrock 20

Powell High School’s first opponent on Friday was a head-to-head matchup with Glenrock. The Powell girls posted a 51-20 win.

“It was a good first game back from Christmas break for us,” said head coach Scott McKenzie. “We really executed well.”

At the end of the first quarter, Powell held Glenrock to four points while scoring 14 of its own.

“We played really good defense against them,” said coach McKenzie.

Powell led 29-9 at the half and, after allowing just two Glenrock points in the third quarter, went up 41-11 heading into the final period.

Each of the eight PHS players who suited up collected defensive rebounds, for a team total of 24; seven of those players grabbed offensive rebounds, too.

Katie McKenzie led with eight boards; Maddy Hanks followed right behind with seven.

The Lady Panthers shot 58 percent from the field, the high percentage was boosted by 20 assists from seven different players. Katie McKenzie led with six assists. Dani Asay had four, Hanks had three, Tayli Stenerson, Rachel Bonander and Rachelle Cole each had two and Aubrie Stenerson had one.

Seven Lady Panthers put points on the board. Katie McKenzie and Rachel Bonander each scored 11 points, while Jennifer Bonander and Aubrie Stenerson had nine points apiece.

Powell also grabbed 10 steals with Tayli Stenerson, Katie McKenzie, Aubrie Stenerson and Jennifer Bonander each having two.

“Just a great first game for us,” said coach McKenzie.

Powell 41, Buffalo 25

Powell edged Buffalo in overtime earlier in the season, but the team took a more comfortable win on Friday.

“Really good to see the girls improve,” said coach McKenzie.

Powell played good defense once again. The squad led by only one point after the first quarter, but held Buffalo to just one basket in the second period — while scoring nine points of its own — for a 18-10 lead at halftime.

The Lady Panthers pulled away in the second half.

Each PHS player scored and, as a team, they shot 53 percent from the field.

“It’s been quite a long time for us as coaches to have all the girls on the varsity score in a game,” said coach McKenzie. “So that was really exciting.”

Jennifer Bonander led with 12 points and Asay followed with 10. Tayli Stenerson contributed five points, Maddy Hanks and Aubrie Stenerson added four each and Katie McKenzie, Rachel Bonander and Rachelle Cole each had two points.

“They really played unselfish basketball against Buffalo, they made great passes,” said coach McKenzie.

Seven players made assists, led by Aubrie Stenerson and Maddy Hanks, with three apiece.

“Really did a great job of sharing the basketball,” said coach McKenzie.

Jennifer Bonander and Asay each had three blocked shots.

In the steals department, Asay led with three and Tayli Stenerson and Hanks had two apiece.

“Was a really nice win for us,” said coach McKenzie.

Wyoming Indian 50, Powell 43 (overtime)

In Saturday’s semi-final game, Powell had its first overtime loss in three tries, falling against Class 2A powerhouse Wyoming Indian.

Coach McKenzie said Wyoming Indian played good defense, putting double coverage on Powell’s post players and making it difficult for PHS to get the ball inside.

Because of the struggle to get the ball into the paint, Powell put up 18 3-point shots while only shooting 16 times from inside the arc.

Powell wound up shooting 27 percent on 3-pointers, 50 percent from 2-point range and 80 percent at the free throw line.

Hanks went four-for-four at the free throw line and Asay went six-for-seven.

Powell had three players score in double digits, led by Asay’s 17 points. Aubrie Stenerson was second with three 3-pointers and a total of 14 points, followed by Hanks with 11.

Wyoming Indian’s press also caused some trouble for the Lady Panthers. Powell had a total of 24 turnovers — the third highest they’ve had in their seven games so far — including 12 in the third quarter.

Despite the turnovers, however, Powell trailed only by eight points going into the fourth quarter.

The girls battled back in the final period. With 12 seconds remaining, Powell was down by only two; they called a timeout and drew up a play that resulted in Asay hitting a basket at the buzzer to force overtime.

“We have had three overtimes,” said coach McKenzie. “Was a good learning lesson for us on this one.”

Each Lady Panther pulled down at least one defensive board. Jennifer Bonander led with five while Asay, Katie McKenzie and Aubrie Stenerson each had four.

Rachel Bonander led in overall boards with seven, four on offense and three on defense.

Tayli Stenerson had a team-best six assists while Asay and Hanks each grabbed two steals.

The win put Wyoming Indian into the championship game where they beat Worland, 53-52.

For Powell, the loss placed them into the third place game against Lovell. The teams mutually agreed to not play based on a few factors such as Lovell having bus troubles and the fact that the two squads played each other just before the Christmas break.

Overall, coach McKenzie said it was a good weekend in which the team learned a lot. Powell is now 5-2 on the season.

This weekend, the Lady Panthers head to Douglas to play the No. 1 ranked Lady Bearcats (6-0), the last non-conference game of the season for the Panthers. Game time will be at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

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