Two different starts led to two drastically different scorelines for the Powell Panther girls’ basketball team in the final games of the regular season, as the Panthers blitzed Lovell early en route to a 48-26 win Thursday before a slow start Friday sunk the Panthers in a 55-25 loss at Cody.

POWELL 48, LOVELL 26

Heading to Lovell the Panthers (15-7 overall, 6-4 3A West) came out with a strong defensive mission against the Bulldogs (10-12 overall, 2-8 3A West).

That paid off early as the Panthers led 4-0 midway through the quarter and continued to pressure the Bulldogs at every turn.

Powell made it a double-digit game with 2:26 remaining on a Catelynn Floy layup, holding a commanding 11-0 lead.

“We definitely talked about coming out early and working hard on defense to dictate the pace of the game against Lovell and the girls did an excellent job of that from the opening tip,” assistant coach Troy Hildebrand said.

Lovell finally got on the board with just under a minute left, but the Panthers led 16-2 heading into the second quarter.

The second quarter continued like the first, as the Panthers made it a 26-6 game with 3:36 remaining on an Ivy Agee 3-pointer.

Ending the first half strong the Panthers took a 31-8 advantage into the locker room.

The third quarter started with less scoring, as the Panthers led 35-13 midway through.

Powell was able to maintain a strong advantage going into the fourth quarter, leading 38-18.

After a slower scoring third quarter the Panthers were able to pick it up in the fourth, keeping the scoreline consistent as they walked away with a 48-26 win.

“In Lovell we were able to get things going our way early and really build on it from there,” Hildebrand said. “We played with great confidence and were very aggressive on both ends of the floor in this game, which is what we will be looking for as we head to regionals.”

Emery Hernandez led with 18 points and Agee added 11 as the two Panthers in double figures.

Floy finished with 10 rebounds, while Alexa Richardson and Agee tied for the team lead with four assists each.

CODY 55, POWELL 25

After the win Thursday, the Panthers made the quick trip over to Cody on Friday to take on the rival Fillies (17-4 overall, 9-1 3A West).

The things that gave the Panthers a strong start on Thursday did not happen on Friday, as the Fillies blitzed the Panthers early through defensive pressure and forced a Powell timeout with Cody ahead 7-0.

The lead reached as many as 12-0 before Powell finally got on the board with an Agee layup.

Cody continued to press, and made it an 18-4 scoreline at the end of the first quarter.

“The Cody game was a great environment as it was very loud and there was a lot of emotion going into that game,” Hildebrand said. “Unfortunately, Cody got a couple of early steals and hit some perimeter shots in that first period and really knocked us back on our heels … Cody was the exact opposite (of Lovell) as they got it rolling early and we weren’t able to find a way to get things turned back in our favor.”

Things didn’t get better for the Panthers in the second quarter, as the gap widened to 20 with the Fillies leading 25-5. The Panthers trailed 29-7 going into the break.

Cody scored the first eight of the third and made it a 37-7 game, and it reached as many as 33 points as the Fillies led 45-12 after three quarters.

Powell found better scoring in the fourth quarter to end with some positive momentum from the game heading into the postseason, ending with a 55-25 loss.

“In the fourth we were able to get another three from Coy [Erickson], and then Emery and Ivy were each able to finish a couple drives to the basket which at least gave us a handful of positive things to draw from in a game where not many things went our way,” Hildebrand said.

REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

Powell now heads into postseason action, making the trip down to Lander for the 3A West Regional Tournament starting Thursday.

The No. 4 seeded Panthers will take on the host No. 5 Tigers (11-10 overall, 5-5 3A West) at 4 p.m. at the Lander High School fieldhouse.

Powell has defeated Lander both times they played this season, winning 47-40 the opening weekend and defeating Lander 41-37 on Feb. 21.

“We’ll need to take the positives of our recent matchup with them and the Lovell game to put our best foot forward in that first round matchup,” Hildebrand said.

If Powell wins, it will advance to take on the winner of No. 1 seeded Pinedale (20-1 overall, 10-0 3A West) and No. 8 seeded Worland (1-20 overall, 0-10 3A West) at 5 p.m. on Friday.

If Powell loses it will drop down to the consolation bracket to take on the loser of that contest at 10:30 a.m. on Friday.

Powell will need two wins to advance to the state tournament.

POWELL 48, LOVELL 22

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Emery Hernandez 18, Ivy Agee 11, Catelynn Floy 8, Saige Kidd 6, Coy Erickson 3, Leah Graham 2

Rebounds — Catelynn Floy 10 (3), Saige Kidd 7 (3), Coy Erickson 5 (1), Emery Hernandez 4, Ivy Agee 3 (2), Alexa Richardson 1 (1), Ava Teten 1

Assists — Alexa Richardson 4, Ivy Agee 4, Emery Hernandez 2, Coy Erickson 2, Ava Teten 1, Catelynn Floy 1

Steals — Emery Hernandez 2, Ivy Agee 2, Catelynn Floy 2, Alexa Richardson 1, Coy Erickson 1, Saige Kidd 1, Leah Graham 1

Blocks — Coy Erickson 1, Catelynn Floy 1

CODY 55, POWELL 25

Points — Ivy Agee 8, Emery Hernandez 7, Coy Erickson 7, Shelby Zickefoose 2, Catelynn Floy 1

Rebounds — Catelynn Floy 4 (1), Coy Erickson 2, Alexa Richardson 1, Ivy Agee 1, Ava Teten 1, Saige Kidd 1, Leah Graham 1 (1), Kindyle Floy 1

Assists — Emery Hernandez 2, Leah Graham 2, Coy Erickson 1, Kindyle Floy 1, Catelynn Floy 1

Steals — Emery Hernandez 3, Alexa Richardson 1, Coy Erickson 1, Ivy Agee 1, Saige Kidd 1, Leah Graham 1

Blocks — Catelynn Floy 1