It was a strong weekend for the Powell Panther girls’ basketball team, which ran away from two southwest opponents at home — defeating Lander 56-34 on Friday and Pinedale 43-22 on Saturday.

POWELL 56, LANDER 34

Starting out the weekend the Panthers (9-6 overall, 3-0 3A Northwest) tried to come out with a high-paced tempo against the visiting Tigers (4-12 overall, 0-3 3A Southwest) in a rematch from the opening game of the season.

“We wanted to see where we were at playing them for a second time knowing that they had gotten better and we got better and not overlook them,” coach Chelsea Buher said.

Both teams started out strong, and Lander held an early 9-6 lead midway through the first quarter.

A minute later a basket by Catelynn Floy helped spark a run that extended to 16-0, helping Powell build a 22-9 lead early in the second quarter.

The Panthers continued to force turnovers and maintain a double digit lead throughout the half and headed into the locker room up 33-19.

Taking advantage of the size difference, the Panthers kept pushing the ball inside to Floy, Addy Thorington and Saige Kidd, helping push the lead out to 46-29 after the third quarter.

Powell continued to maintain its lead and finished with a 22-point victory 56-34, to complete the regular season sweep over the Tigers.

The Panthers finished with a season low 10 turnovers in the contest while forcing Lander into 35 turnovers, and got to the free throw line 30 times, finishing 15-of-30.

Thorington led the way with 14 points and four steals, followed by Kidd with 11 points and six steals while Floy finished with eight points and five steals. Maddie Campbell led the Panthers with five assists.

Win No. 8 marked the most wins for a Buher led team in her four years in Powell.

POWELL 43, PINEDALE 22

Heading into Saturday the Panthers were looking to avenge an earlier season loss, coming up against the Pinedale Wranglers (13-4 overall, 2-1 3A Southwest) who defeated the Panthers 59-39 during the opening weekend of the season.

Pinedale came into the contest after a loss the previous night to Lovell 32-27 and were sitting sophomore guard Elyn Bowers due to an injury. Bowers leads the team with 21.7 points per game and also leads the team in assists and steals per game.

“I think the girls were kind of bummed she wasn’t playing,” Buher said. “They wanted a full strength rematch because we weren’t at full strength the first time we played them and they weren’t at full strength this time. The girls really wanted to see where they lined up with them.”

Powell again came out with a strong press, but foul trouble started to plague the Panthers — pulling out of the trapping press and switching into a full-court man defense.

After the game was tied at four early on, Powell pulled ahead over the final six minutes of the quarter and led 12-6 after the first.

The high-pressure defense continued to cause problems for the Wranglers, with Powell pulling further ahead in the second and taking a 27-10 lead into the half.

The Panthers came out fast from the locker room, but Thorington, Campbell and Waycee Harvey picked up their third fouls immediately after the quarter started.

Turning to their bench alongside starters Kidd and Megan Jacobsen, the Panthers sought to stamp out any hope for the Wranglers early in the second half.

“That was really difficult to swallow because we got into foul trouble early and had to pull them out,” Buher said. “Megan does all the behind the scenes stuff that doesn’t make the box score. She always plays so hard and tries to always do the right thing and be in the right place. I told her she had a good game this weekend even though it didn’t show up in the box score.”

Despite three of their top five scorers on the bench for nearly the entire third quarter the Panthers were only outscored by one in the period and took a 33-17 lead into the fourth quarter.

Getting back into the game, Campbell helped the Panthers push the lead out to 20 early in the frame and Powell was able to see out the game with a 43-22 victory.

Kidd led the Panthers with 12 points, seven rebounds and five steals.

“Saige played really physically and with confidence,” Buher said. “She used her ability to handle the ball in those games either to set herself up to score or others to score — she had a really good weekend.”

KEY CONTESTS

Powell continues its midseason surge having won eight of its last 10 contests heading into a pair of matchups this weekend with two different implications.

The weekend starts at home on Friday against Worland (4-11 overall, 1-2 3A Northwest) at 5:30 p.m., which won two of its last three games including a 57-51 upset over No. 4-ranked Lyman on Saturday.

“We are going to have to have high hands on them shooting outside and cover their bigs inside,” Buher said. “We did a pretty good job of that the first game. I have some adjustments in mind to make and some stuff to clean up on our press.”

That game will kick off the second half swing of the 3A Northwest season with the Panthers sitting in first place through three games.

Powell then heads on the road for the first time in five games on Saturday to take on No. 2-ranked Buffalo (11-3 overall, 3-0 3A Northeast) at 5 p.m.

“Playing at Buffalo is going to be difficult,” Buher said. “The girls are excited to play them to see where we match up. It’s going to be an all-out, knock-down, drag-out, physical game that’s going to be fast-paced. We have to control our turnovers and handle their pressure.”

POWELL 56, LANDER 34

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Addy Thorington 14, Saige Kidd 11, Catelynn Floy 8, Coy Erickson 7, Waycee Harvey 5, Megan Jacobsen 4, Kami Jensen 3, Alexa Richardson 2, Maddie Campbell 2

Rebounds — Saige Kidd 4 (3), Megan Jacobsen 4 (2), Addy Thorington 3 (1), Kami Jensen 3 (1), Alexa Richardson 2 (1), Waycee Harvey 2 (2), Maddie Campbell 2 (1), Catelynn Floy 2 (2), Kenzie Fields 1 (1), Lauryn Bennett 1 (1)

Assists — Maddie Campbell 5, Addy Thorington 4, Saige Kidd 3, Catelynn Floy 2

Steals — Saige Kidd 6, Catelynn Floy 5, Addy Thorington 4, Maddie Campbell 4, Kami Jensen 3, Megan Jacobsen 2, Waycee Harvey 1, Coy Erickson 1

POWELL 43, PINEDALE 22

Points — Saige Kidd 12, Waycee Harvey 8, Maddie Campbell 6, Addy Thorington 5, Catelynn Floy 4, Megan Jacobsen 4, Alexa Richardson 2, Kami Jensen 2

Rebounds — Saige Kidd 7 (3), Catelynn Floy 6 (4), Waycee Harvey 3 (2), Addy Thorington 3, Alexa Richardson 2 (1), Megan Jacobsen 2, Maddie Campbell 1 (1), Kami Jensen 1

Assists — Alexa Richardson 2, Waycee Harvey 2, Coy Erickson 2, Addy Thorington 2, Saige Kidd 1, Megan Jacobsen 1

Steals — Saige Kidd 5, Waycee Harvey 3, Addy Thorington 3, Catelynn Floy 3, Maddie Campbell 1, Megan Jacobsen 1

Blocks — Addy Thorington 3, Catelynn Floy 2, Maddie Campbell 1