Playing at a tournament in Worland earlier this month, the Powell High School girls junior varsity basketball team posted a 2-1 record. The Panthers opened with a 36-32 loss to Lovell, then beat Burlington 23-17 and Greybull 49-25.

The squad followed that up with a strange loss to Lander on Saturday.

Lander 61, Powell 36

“This was one of the more bizarre JV games that I have been a part of in recent memory,” said PHS JV coach Troy Hildebrand.

Powell fell behind 27-7 early in the second period, but rallied: a 3-pointer from Rylynn Valdez at the third quarter buzzer tied the game at 34. However, the comeback sputtered after Kaili Wisniewski and Jayden Asher suffered injuries and Lander shut down the PHS offense in a 27-2 fourth quarter.

“Abi Urbach, Megan Jacobsen, Gabby Thomas and Sarah Dunkerley all did an admirable job of trying to take the lead against the press, but Lander’s experience won out in this case,” Hildebrand said.

Paije Johnson used aggressive play to score 10 points in two quarters while earning 19 trips to the line between varsity and JV action, Hildebrand said; he called it “a tremendous positive for her and our team.” Wisniewski hit three “key” 3-pointers, the coach said, while Valdez also had nine points.

Scoring — Johnson 10, Wisniewski 9, Valdez 9, Urbach 3, Jacobsen 3, Maddie Campbell 2.

Lovell 36, Powell 32

On Friday, PHS led Lovell 19-15 at halftime, but fell behind 28-25 after three quarters. The Panthers tied the game in the final 30 seconds on an Urbach basket before the Bulldogs took the win.

“We did a lot of things well offensively in this game but we really killed ourselves at the free throw line by making only two of 14,” Hildebrand said; Lovell made 11 of 26.

Scoring — Dunkerley 8, Urbach 7, Addison Braten 6, Jacobsen 4, Johnson 3, Campbell 2, Wisniewski 2.

Powell 23, Burlington 17

Facing Burlington, “we built a small four to six point lead and it pretty much stayed right there from start to finish,” Hildebrand said. Powell was “fortunate,” he said, to overcome more struggles at the free throw line (3 of 13).

Scoring — Urbach 8, Asher 7, Jacobsen 7, Wisniewski 1.

Powell 49, Greybull 25

Greybull grabbed a 13-11 lead at halftime, but in the final two quarters, PHS used its press to outscore the Buffs 39-12 and run away with the win.

“This second half was easily the best we have looked all year and should be something the girls can look back at and draw on in future games,” Hildebrand said.

Scoring — Urbach 13 (5-5 on free throws), Campbell 8, Asher 8, Valdez 6, Wisniewski 6, Johnson 4, Jacobsen 2, Thomas 2.