After a difficult first round contest followed by another close loss in the consolation semifinals, the Powell Panther girls’ basketball team was out after two games at the state tournament in Casper. The Panthers lost to Douglas 58-38 and Wheatland 62-57.

DOUGLAS 58, POWELL 38

Kicking off the state tournament, the No. 4-seeded Panthers (17-11) took on the east No. 1-seeded Bearcats (27-1).

Following a nervous first couple of minutes the Panthers settled into the contest and competed against the defending state champions, getting on the board with 5:15 remaining after a Saige Kidd 3-pointer as Powell trailed 5-3.

The Panther’s zone defense frustrated the Bearcats at times early, as Powell stayed within striking distance and then took the lead with 1:02 remaining on an Alexa Richardson layup to force a Douglas timeout.

A late basket by Douglas gave the Bearcats the lead back as Powell trailed 12-11 going into the second.

“I thought we executed our game plan really well. We handled that extended 2-3 (zone) really well, to the point where I felt like they had to get out of it because they weren’t getting any traps out of it,” coach Chelsea Kistler said. “Then we were getting open shots, and when our shots weren’t falling we were getting a lot of offensive rebounds and making the putbacks.”

Powell continued to stay close and play tough defense, as an Ivy Agee layup tied the game at 19 with 4:50 left in the first half.

Just before the half Douglas took the lead once again, as a basket just before the horn gave the Bearcats a 26-24 advantage at the break.

Inside the first minute of the third quarter a Coy Erickson 3-pointer gave Powell the lead once again, before the Bearcats wore down the Panthers.

A poor string of luck led to a strong run for the Bearcats, who took a 36-28 lead and forced a Powell timeout.

“We missed about four bunnies [layups] and some free throws, and it’s really hard to keep your morale up whenever you’re missing the easy ones,” Kistler said. “You can’t do that at that stage of the game … If you make those shots, you keep that energy alive.”

Kistler added that “We just kind of ran out of gas there once those things weren’t falling for us.”

The Bearcats made it a double digit game at 39-28 after a 3-pointer, as foul trouble started to mount for the Panthers late in the quarter.

Heading into the fourth quarter the Panthers continued to trail, as Douglas made it a 44-31 game going to the final frame.

That momentum carried into the fourth quarter as the Bearcats made it 51-35 with 5:30 remaining and forced another Powell timeout.

Neither team scored over the next two minutes before a Douglas timeout, and the Bearcats pulled further away late as Powell emptied its bench with two minutes left in a 58-38 loss.

Emery Hernandez led with 15 points, while Catelynn Floy led with nine rebounds, seven of those offensive.

WHEATLAND 62, POWELL 57

Dropping down to the consolation bracket in a loser-out game the Panthers took on the Bulldogs (21-10) for the second straight year in the same contest.

“I thought we came out kind of flat and didn’t have a lot of energy,” Kistler said.

Powell trailed midway through the first quarter 8-5, before Erickson started what became a big game from beyond the 3-point line.

Her 3-pointer followed by strong pressure forced an early timeout from Wheatland, before the Panthers ended the first quarter strong and held a 15-13 lead behind nine from Erickson on three 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs responded in the second quarter and held a 22-18 lead midway through the frame, and continued to lead 24-21 at the break.

A poor start in the third quarter gave the Bulldogs a larger lead at 28-21, forcing a timeout by Powell and a strong message from Kistler in the huddle to implore the Panthers to come back.

“Sometimes you just need a little motivation. I tried to be that, and I don’t like to do that, but I felt like they needed it and they responded really well,” Kistler said. “I appreciate that from them responding to that timeout.”

Powell started clawing its way back following that timeout, cutting the lead down to 32-27 after a Floy layup.

Powell tied the game at 36 behind two Agee 3-pointers and another Floy layup with 1:05 remaining.

“We tried to push the tempo and the pace a little bit there in the second half and create some turnovers, because we didn’t turn them over very much in the first half,” Kistler said.

Kidd’s jumper just before the third quarter horn kept the game tied, as the two teams were deadlocked at 38 going into the fourth quarter.

Just like the night before, a 3-pointer by Erickson in the first minute gave Powell the lead, before another Wheatland run made it a 47-43 game with 4:38 remaining.

Over the next 50 seconds the teams exchanged free throws until it was 49-47 in favor of the Bulldogs and Powell took a timeout.

Wheatland extended its lead to 56-51 with 1:57 remaining, but Powell continued to battle.

“[Star player Lily] Anderson got hers, but I think the key was they [Wheatland] had two of their players kind of have some breakout games and scored the ball a lot better than they did against Pinedale the night before,” Kistler said.

Kidd’s bucket cut the lead down to 58-55, and a 1-2 trip to the line for Wheatland gave Powell a chance to cut further. A Floy layup did just that to make it a 59-57 game with 10.9 seconds left.

After a foul, Wheatland went 1-2 at the line once again, but Powell couldn’t secure the rebound after a missed second free throw, and the Bulldogs went 2-2 with another chance at the line to put the game out of reach with a 62-57 final score.

“If we would have played the first half like our second half, I think it would have been a different ballgame. But it could have been part of our [strategy], I wanted them to kind of sit off and be in more help on Anderson and maybe that dictated our energy level a little bit. So I’ll take a piece of that as well,” Kistler said. “It’s a bummer to lose to those guys again in that exact same game at the exact same place.”

Erickson led with 17 behind five 3-pointers to tie the school record for a third time, Floy added 14 points and nine rebounds.

Hernandez added four assists, Agee led with three steals and Erickson added three blocks.

OUTGOING SENIORS, NEXT STEP

The Panthers will say goodbye to three seniors in Kidd, Richardson and Floy who have impacted the program over the past four years with each having some varsity experience since their freshman year.

“The first thing I said to each of them was, thank you for their commitment to the program and to me,” Kistler said. “There’s only three of them left, and they’ve been that solid three since their sophomore year … They had a fairly big class as a freshman group and only ended up being those three. Basketball is a tough season, and I’m not the easiest to play for. I know that, but I also will always have their backs and always support them in anything that they do from here on out and will always be just a phone call away.”

Moving forward the Panthers will bring back quite a bit of experience from this year’s team along with a junior varsity team that performed strong behind them. Kistler said the Panthers will need to put in work over the summer to take that next step to get past the first round at state next year and reach the semifinals.

“As a coach you can say that offseason stuff until you’re blue in the face, but truly the proof is in the pudding,” Kistler said. “It means more coming from kids like an Emery and a Coy, if they heard them kind of knocking on their door, texting them and calling them and saying, ‘Hey, let’s go to the gym. Hey, let’s go get some shots up.’ It means more coming from kids like that. I hope that my returners start to become vocal leaders to go along with their physical leadership. Drag those young kids into the gym with them and make them better, because it’s only going to make our team stronger the more kids that are finding the gym in the offseason.” 

DOUGLAS 58, POWELL 38

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Emery Hernandez 15, Coy Erickson 7, Catelynn Floy 4, Saige Kidd 3, Alexa Richardson 2, Ivy Agee 2, Shelby Zickefoose 2, Leah Graham 2, Kindyle Floy 1

Rebounds — Catelynn Floy 9 (7), Saige Kidd 6 (2), Coy Erickson 5 (2), Ivy Agee 5, Emery Hernandez 2 (1), Kindyle Floy 2, Alexa Richardson 1 (1), Leah Graham 1 (1)

Assists — Emery Hernandez 2, Coy Erickson 2, Ivy Agee 1, Saige Kidd 1, Kindyle Floy 1

Steals — Ivy Agee 1, Leah Graham 1

Blocks — Emery Hernandez 1, Coy Erickson 1, Saige Kidd 1, Catelynn Floy 1

WHEATLAND 62, POWELL 57

Points — Coy Erickson 17, Catelynn Floy 14, Ivy Agee 9, Emery Hernandez 8, Saige Kidd 6, Leah Graham 3

Rebounds — Catelynn Floy 9 (7), Coy Erickson 6, Emery Hernandez 3, Ivy Agee 3 (1), Leah Graham 3 (1), Alexa Richardson 1, Saige Kidd 1

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

Steals — Ivy Agee 3, Coy Erickson 1, Saige Kidd 1, Catelynn Floy 1

Blocks — Coy Erickson 3, Saige Kidd 1