The Powell Panther girls’ basketball team won a pair of challenging games last weekend, with one coming down to the final shot. The Panthers defeated Lovell at home Thursday 49-36 before winning on a last second free throw by senior guard Alexa Richardson to take home a 51-50 win in Buffalo on Friday.

POWELL 49, LOVELL 36

Continuing their homestand and hoping to win a second straight conference game, the Panthers (11-4 overall, 2-1 3A West) welcomed in the Bulldogs (9-6 overall, 1-2 3A West) on Thursday.

Powell started out strong, holding an 8-4 lead and forcing a Lovell timeout with 4:22 remaining.

The Panthers grew their advantage out to as many as eight in the quarter, but a late push by Lovell cut it down to 15-11 after the first.

Neither team scored well early in the second quarter, as Powell maintained its lead, up 17-13 before a Lovell timeout with 4:43 left in the quarter.

The Panthers came out stronger over the next couple of minutes, with a pair of Coy Erickson 3-pointers making it a 23-15 lead with two minutes left in the half.

Catelynn Floy eventually pushed the advantage to double digits with a layup late in the quarter, making it 25-15 at the break.

In the third quarter both teams struggled to find the basket early once again, as Lovell called an early timeout with the Panthers leading 28-17.

That advantage held until late in the quarter when the Panther press started causing issues, and a late outburst gave Powell a 41-24 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

Lovell nearly cut the lead down to single digits in the final frame, but the Panthers held off any attempts at a comeback in a 49-36 win.

“It seemed like every time we started to pull away then something kind of weird would happen, and it would just bring them right back into the game. It never felt like we didn’t have control, we just didn’t ever break away from them,” coach Chelsea Kistler said. “It was a good, solid win for us. Another win in that W column for conference, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”

Emery Hernandez led with 13 points, Erickson had 12 and Floy had 11 while leading with eight rebounds.

Hernandez added four assists and Floy had five steals to lead the Panthers.

POWELL 51, BUFFALO 50

Popping over the mountain on Saturday, the Panthers met up with one of the top teams in the east in the Bison (7-6 overall, 3-1 3A East).

Slow scoring from both sides had the Panthers with a slight advantage early, leading 6-4 midway through the first quarter.

Better scoring over the final four minutes led to the Bison claiming the lead, as the Panthers trailed 12-10 heading into the second quarter.

The close game continued, as the teams exchanged leads and were deadlocked at 19 midway through the second quarter.

Powell held the lead late through a pair of Leah Graham free throws, but a layup at the buzzer by Buffalo tied the game at 27 going into the break.

The back and forth contest continued in the third, with Buffalo owning a small lead up 36-34 with five minutes remaining.

Buffalo created separation over the next two minutes, making it 41-34 before Catelynn Floy ended the small run.

Powell fell further back from that point, as another 4-0 run made it 45-36 to give Buffalo the largest lead of the game.

A Coy Erickson 3-pointer ended the quarter as Powell trailed 45-39 heading into the fourth.

One early basket kept the Bison at a strong advantage, before the Panther defense locked down the Bison.

“I feel like we just bowed our necks and we did what we had to do to come back, and we did what we had to do to win,” Kistler said.

Hernandez hit a pair of free throws with just under three minutes left, tying the game at 48.

Erickson gave the Panthers the lead shortly after on a backdoor layup, and Powell was able to play keepaway to kill some time off the clock.

A turnover eventually gave the Bison possession, and they called a timeout with 47 seconds left.

Powell fouled on a shot with 35 seconds left, and the Bison made both to tie the game.

The Panthers called a timeout of their own, and drew up a set to try and find a winning shot.

Powell worked the motion until Richardson was fouled on her shot attempt at the free throw line and went to the line with .3 seconds left with the game on the line.

“They jumped into a man (defense) which was fine, but I stuck with a play that was familiar to us to give us confidence,” Kistler said. “We had to run some time off before we ran the final play. I thought we did a great job of doing that. Then with about 10 seconds to go, we ran a play and Buffalo did a good job of guarding it which led to it being in Richie’s [Richardson] hands. She was aware of the time on the clock and she went up for a shot and then hit right across her arms.”

Her first one rattled around the rim and in, before the Panthers called a timeout to discuss a strategy.

The second bounced off and a full court heave attempt by Buffalo was waived off as Powell escaped with the 51-50 win.

“It truly was a team win,” Kistler said. “I’m really proud of them because last year we wouldn’t have won that game. It was our time to win a close game like that, especially against those guys (Buffalo).”

Erickson led with 13 points, while Hernandez added nine points and seven assists. Saige Kidd led the Panthers with eight rebounds.

BRIDGER VALLEY ROAD TRIP

Powell now heads to the southwest corner of the state, taking on a pair of opponents in the Bridger Valley this weekend.

The Panthers take on Lyman (11-5 overall, 0-4 3A West) at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, before playing Mountain View (11-4 overall, 2-2 3A West) at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

In the new format this season these games will count towards postseason seeding in the 3A West — Kistler and the Panthers have discussed the added meaning to these games.

“After we celebrated the win that was our next thing on the agenda,” Kistler said. “It’s time to refocus on Monday. Those are two big games that we need to take care of on the road, and those are two places that are difficult to play.”

POWELL 49, LOVELL 36

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Emery Hernandez 13, Coy Erickson 12, Catelynn Floy 11, Alexa Richardson 4, Ivy Agee 4, Saige Kidd 3, Leah Graham 2

Rebounds — Catelynn Floy 8 (2), Coy Erickson 6 (1), Saige Kidd 5 (2), Emery Hernandez 4 (3), Ivy Agee 3 (1), Alexa Richardson 1

Assists — Emery Hernandez 4, Alexa Richardson 3, Ivy Agee 3, Catelynn Floy 3, Coy Erickson 2, Saige Kidd 1

Steals — Catelynn Floy 5, Coy Erickson 3, Alexa Richardson 2, Ivy Agee 2, Saige Kidd 1, Leah Graham 1

Blocks — Coy Erickson 1, Saige Kidd 1

POWELL 51, BUFFALO 50

Points — Coy Erickson 13, Emery Hernandez 9, Catelynn Floy 8, Leah Graham 6, Alexa Richardson 5, Ivy Agee 4, Saige Kidd 4, Ava Teten 2

Rebounds — Saige Kidd 8 (2), Emery Hernandez 7 (3), Coy Erickson 4 (1), Alexa Richardson 2, Catelynn Floy 2 (2), Ivy Agee 1 (1), Ava Teten 1, Leah Graham 1

Assists — Emery Hernandez 7, Coy Erickson 4, Alexa Richardson 3, Ivy Agee 1, Saige Kidd 1, Catelynn Floy 1

Steals — Emery Hernandez 2, Catelynn Floy 2, Alexa Richardson 1, Coy Erickson 1, Ivy Agee 1

Blocks — Alexa Richardson 1, Saige Kidd 1