Brawling against the Bulldogs

Posted 12/20/16

“Another good close game for us and finding a way to win,” said PHS head coach Scott McKenzie. “Lovell is a really good team.”

Up until the final seconds, neither team led by more than two points throughout the fourth quarter.

Coach …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Brawling against the Bulldogs

Posted

Panthers take close  win against Lovell

Persevering through a final 40 seconds of play that took more than 10 minutes, Powell High School’s Lady Panthers claimed a 43-39 victory over the Lady Bulldogs last week.

“Another good close game for us and finding a way to win,” said PHS head coach Scott McKenzie. “Lovell is a really good team.”

Up until the final seconds, neither team led by more than two points throughout the fourth quarter.

Coach McKenzie said the game was a measuring stick for his team’s progress going into the Christmas break.

“They are always competitive,” he said of the Lady Bulldogs.

Free throws by Maddy Hanks, Aubrie Stenerson and Tayli Stenerson gave the Lady Panthers the four-point victory. But though free throws sealed the win, coach McKenzie wants the team to improve in that area, saying free throws will be a focus in practice over the break.

Powell made only 10 of 22 attempts (45 percent) from the line in the game — and sank just five of 13 tries in the fourth quarter.

“We have to get tougher,” coach McKenzie said of free throws.

PHS trailed 11-8 at the end of the first quarter. Lovell had built its lead to five points when, with 2:06 left in the second quarter, Katie McKenzie hit a 3-point shot to cut the Lady Bulldogs’ advantage to 15-13.

Rachel Bonander tied things at 18-all with 13 seconds remaining in the half.

To start off the third quarter, Lovell would made the first basket, but Tayli Stenerson quickly answered with a 3-pointer to put Powell ahead, 21-20.

Scoring slowed down until the final minute of the period.

With 58 seconds left in the period, Katie McKenzie started the outburst with another 3-pointer to put Powell up 26-23.

But the lead would be short-lived as Lovell immediately responded with a trey of their own to tie things up, then Rachel Bonander made a 3-point play to put Powell ahead before Lovell made a last-second layup to make it 29-28, Powell.

The Lady Bulldogs made a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter scoring, going up 31-29, but Dani Asay tied things up less than a minute later.

The next four minutes of play would consist of the two teams going back and forth, with neither team being ahead by more than two.

Entering the final 40 seconds — which would be dragged out by fouls and timeouts — Powell led 38-37.

With 32.6 seconds left, Tayli Stenerson was fouled and made one of two free throws; a couple seconds later, Aubrie Stenerson did the same to make it 40-37.

Powell would then turn around and foul Lovell, which made both of their free throws to pull within one.

With 18.6 seconds left to play, Lovell again fouled Tayli Stenerson, who again made one of two to make it 41-39.

After inbounding the ball, Lovell brought the ball down the court but missed its shot. Jennifer Bonander grabbed the rebound and quickly kicked the ball out to Maddy Hanks.

Hanks was quickly fouled and made both of her free throws to give Powell the four-point, 43-39, win.

Katie McKenzie went three-for-three on 3-point shots; Tayli Stenerson made two.

While no one reached double digits, the scoring was well balanced among the squad, with seven of the nine players scoring points.

Jennifer Bonander led the team in assists with four. Aubrie Stenerson was second with three.

On the boards, Rachel Bonander led with nine, six defensive and three offensive. Aubrie Stenerson had six offensive rebounds,

“I thought we did a great job on the boards,” said coach McKenzie

Aubrie Stenerson also led the team with five steals.

As a team, the Lady Panthers went 5-for-16 (31.3 percent) on 3-points shots and 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) from the field.

“It’s nice to be 3-1 going into the Christmas break and all three of our wins were close games,” said coach McKenzie. “Our bench right now is four sophomores — so we are young, and so to find ways to win with a young bench is very promising as we head into the new year.”

With Christmas falling on a Sunday, there will not be an alumni game over the Christmas break.

The Lady Panthers will resume play after the break in Thermopolis at the Battle of the Bighorns Tournament. Game times are yet to be announced.

Comments