It was a different court, but the result was about the same.

The Powell High School girls basketball team beat Lander Valley High School 53-34 on Saturday in Lander, nearly repeating last month’s 56-34 win at home.

“They (Lander) played us better, I thought, this time, but we just kind of pulled away, slowly and methodically,” said PHS head coach Scott McKenzie. He called it a big conference win on the road and a big win on the court where the Class 3A West regional tournament will be held.

“We had a good game,” McKenzie said.

After Lander went up 4-0, the Lady Panthers (13-3 overall, 3-1 in Class 3A Northwest) ran off nine straight points to take the lead for good. Lander’s Lady Tigers (6-12 overall, 1-3 in 3A Northwest) looked as though they’d gotten the lead down to three at the end of the first quarter, but they fouled PHS senior Jenni Ebersberger on a long shot at the buzzer. She knocked down all three free throws to make it 14-8.

The Panthers’ lead swelled to as much as 11 points in the second quarter and they led 27-18 at halftime.

Lander made a run in the third quarter to draw within four, 33-29, but PHS junior Richelle Phister hit a 3-pointer for some breathing room. Fellow junior Danna Hanks then came up with a steal, and sophomore Kalina Smith knocked down another trey to put Powell back up by double digits, 39-29.

“They (Lander) kind of put a little pressure on us,” said McKenzie of the spurt. But he was happy to see his squad’s work on defeating half-court pressure pay off.

“We really get the mindset to be aggressive and try to get to basket and not just play keep-away,” McKenzie said.

The Panthers outscored Lander 14-3 in a drama-free fourth quarter, holding the Tigers without a field goal.

Smith led Powell in scoring with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Ebersberger followed with 15 points, spurred by 8 of 9 shooting from the line.

Hanks added nine points and also had eight rebounds and five steals.

“She had a good game for us all-around,” McKenzie said.

Senior Megan Wagner had seven boards and Smith had three blocks.

PHS made 5 of their 13 attempts (38.4 percent) from the 3-point line, 13 of 27 (48.1 percent) attempts from 2-point range and sank 12 of their 18 (66.7 percent) free throw attempts.

The team had 18 steals against 17 turnovers.

The Powell girls will take the season’s longest road trip this week, heading west to tangle with Star Valley (13-3 overall) and Jackson (0-17).

Tip-off time in Star Valley is set for 5:30 p.m. The contest features the class’ top two defenses (with Powell’s being the stingiest so far).

“Might be the first team to 25 points,” McKenzie quipped. He said it could also be a preview of a semi-final game at the Class 3A West regional tournament or of a postseason championship game somewhere.

“So we’ll have to go on the road and create our own excitement and energy and be ready to play,” McKenzie said.

Saturday’s game against Jackson is set to start at 12:45 p.m.