PHS girls rally against Lovell, thump Cody

Posted 3/1/16

The Powell High School girls basketball team overcame a fourth quarter deficit and hung on to win a back-and-forth battle with Lovell, 40-35, on Thursday night. The Panther girls (13-6 overall, 6-0 in Class 3A Northwest) then dispatched Cody on …

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PHS girls rally against Lovell, thump Cody

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Complete perfect 3A West conference record

Make some room, Powell-Cody. Powell-Lovell may be the new rivalry to watch.

The Powell High School girls basketball team overcame a fourth quarter deficit and hung on to win a back-and-forth battle with Lovell, 40-35, on Thursday night. The Panther girls (13-6 overall, 6-0 in Class 3A Northwest) then dispatched Cody on Friday, 52-29.

The Powell girls now head to this week’s Class 3A West regional tournament as the northwest’s top seed.

“We’re excited, with the way we’re playing, to head to regionals,” PHS head coach Scott McKenzie said.

Powell 40, Lovell 35

The early goings set the tone for Thursday’s home game. Lovell jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead, Powell roared back to pull ahead 9-6, then Lovell tied things at 11 all.

“It was definitely a game of spurts,” McKenzie said.

Lovell (13-6 overall, 4-2 in Class 3A Northwest) trailed 18-16 in the opening minute of the third quarter, but PHS made a 9-0 run over the next few minutes to take a seemingly daunting 27-16 advantage.

However, Lovell responded with a 16-0 run into the fourth quarter to lead 32-27.

“We got them into foul trouble and I think we let our guard down a little bit,” McKenzie said. “And hats off to their (Lovell’s) bench girls.”

Freshman Rachel Bonander helped swing the momentum back to the Panthers when she grabbed an offensive rebound, missed, got her own rebound and put it in. Bonander got another bucket on PHS’ next possession, and senior Danna Hanks followed with a steal and lay-up. It was the start of a decisive 13-0 run.

“The girls did a good job of bowing their necks there and fighting back to get that win,” McKenzie said.

Hanks added a 3-pointer and another basket to give PHS some breathing room, 38-32, heading into the final minute.

The Powell girls missed three straight one-and-ones, but senior Richelle Phister sank a pair to effectively seal things up.

Hanks led the team with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor; she also corralled 14 rebounds.

Senior Breanna Donarski and Rachel Bonander (five blocks) each added eight points, while junior Jennifer Bonander had three and Phister and junior Dani Asay each contributed two.

PHS shot 14-of-40 (35 percent) from the floor and 11-of-20 (55 percent) from the free throw line.

Powell 52, Cody 29

The Panthers built a modest 6-5 lead in the first quarter, then used some hot outside shooting to separate from Cody’s Fillies (3-17 overall, 0-6 in Class 3A Northwest).

Donarski started the second period with a 3-pointer (en route to nine points in the quarter) and junior Tayli Stenerson added two more treys as Powell took a 26-13 lead to halftime.

McKenzie said his squad adjusted well to a deep 2-3 zone defense they hadn’t seen before.

“Boy, Breanna (Donarski) answered the call,” the coach said; the senior added three more 3-pointers in the third quarter and finished with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor.

The team had an overall good night of shooting, sinking 7-of-13 tries from 3-point range and 13-of-22 from inside for a 57 percent success rate. They also made 5-of-7 free throws.

Rachel Bonander sank five of her seven shots from the floor to score 11 points. Stenerson followed with six points, Hanks and Asay each added five, Phister three and Jennifer Bonander two.

The team’s seniors each led the squad in a different category in their final home game: Donarski with 20 points, Hanks with eight rebounds and Phister with five assists.

McKenzie said he was “very happy to get that last (home) win for those three seniors,” describing them as “great ambassadors for our program.”

The coach also thanked the many folks who came out to the game.

PHS will open the Class 3A West regional tournament at 9 a.m. Thursday in Star Valley. As the No. 1 seed from the Northwest half of the conference, the Powell girls will take on Jackson (1-19 overall), the No. 4 seed from the southwest.

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