High intensity defense led to turnovers early and often for the Powell Panther girls’ basketball team on Tuesday night, dropping a contest on the road to 4A No. 1-ranked Cody 55-13.

CODY 55, POWELL 13

Two weeks of extra rest allowed both teams to come into the game near 100%, but the Fillies (5-0) came out and applied pressure immediately to put the Panthers (1-3) on the back foot.

A full-court press forced Powell into turnovers early and often, and allowed Cody to build a commanding lead early.

Midway through the quarter, a timeout by coach Chelsea Buher had the Panthers looking for answers, as a Maddie Campbell free throw was their only point over the first four minutes trailing 14-1.

“We allowed Cody to dictate us right from the get-go,” Buher said. “We didn’t do a good job of handling their pressure in the full court and got out of sorts even in the half court. I felt we made mistakes we had discussed and worked on during the week.”

The Fillies continued to apply the pressure, with an Addy Thorington putback being the only other points of the quarter with Powell trailing 27-3 after the first.

In the second quarter the Panthers absorbed the pressure better, getting to the free throw line and putting Cody players in foul trouble.

“Free throws are obviously something we work on daily and something we will continue to do throughout the season. Games are won at the free throw line and lost at the free throw line,” Buher said. “Megan [Jacobsen] did a good job for us last night with going 4-for-4. It’s contagious — when everyone sees one person hitting, it makes them feel they can do it too.”

Buher said on the flip side when you are not hitting as a team from the field or free throw line, the team loses confidence in shooting.

Heading into halftime the Panthers performed better, but still trailed 38-10 going into the locker room.

In the third quarter, Powell continued to absorb pressure better from Cody, but was unable to find a basket in the quarter and trailed 50-10 going into the fourth.

A free throw by Thorington with 5:00 left in the fourth quarter gave Powell its first points of the second half, and a late runner by freshman Coy Erickson made the final score 55-13 in favor of the Fillies.

“Cody is a tough team, but I felt we didn’t provide our best showing in this game,” Buher said. “Tough game to come out of the gates after being off with break and have to open with a team like Cody. We realize what we need to continue to work on and will do that as we move forward.”

HOME OPENER SATURDAY

After the difficult contest on Tuesday the Panthers will turn around and face another top opponent in their respective class — taking on 2A No. 2-ranked Rocky Mountain (5-3) in their home opener on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

“We are going to work on ourselves,” Buher said. “We will work on both sides of the ball and work on producing offensively, cleaning up things too, as well as adding some new things.”

After the home game the Panthers will head to Thermopolis to open the Big Horn Basin Classic.