Junior varsity girls enjoy early season success

Posted 12/28/21

T he Panther girls’ junior varsity basketball team is off to a flying start, as they went into the winter break with a 3-1 record and momentum in the early season.

EAST/WEST CLASSIC

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Junior varsity girls enjoy early season success

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The Panther girls’ junior varsity basketball team is off to a flying start, as they went into the winter break with a 3-1 record and momentum in the early season.

EAST/WEST CLASSIC

The Powell High School JV’s season started just like the varsity team, playing in Lovell during the weekend of Dec. 10 and 11, but they faced different opponents. Powell defeated Rawlins 35-22 and Tongue River 56-26 before losing 53-33 to Buffalo.

In the first game of the season, coach Troy Hildebrand said there were some nerves among the team, but they held an 8-0 advantage after the first quarter against Rawlins. In the second quarter, Kenzie Ratcliff and Abby Wambeke helped complete a run that gave the young Panthers an 18-8 halftime advantage.

The third quarter was a struggle for both teams on the offensive end, with all of Powell’s points coming from the free throw line. The fourth quarter was an 8-8 battle but the Panthers were able to walk away with the 35-22 victory.

“Overall, this was a typical first game of the season for us,” Hildebrand said. “I felt like all 12 of our players did a great job of playing hard and making positive things happen for us on both ends of the floor.”

PHS had another slow start against Tongue River, but Hildebrand said a scoring spark of six points by Kenna Jacobsen helped Powell build a 12-4 advantage after the first quarter. A big second
quarter gave the Panthers a 17-point lead at halftime, which the Panthers were able to build on in the second half.

“We had three players in double figures which is a great sign for this group,” Hildebrand said.

Kenzie Fields (11 points) and Blake Nissen (10), both posted career highs and Jacobsen also had 10 points in the 56-26 victory.

The final game of the East/West Classic did not go well as the Panthers failed to finish well around the rim or at the free throw line against Buffalo.

A low scoring first quarter had Powell leading 4-3. However, Buffalo made 8-of-10 free throw attempts in the second quarter — compared to 2-of-8 shooting by the Panthers — which resulted in a 20-9 second period for Buffalo.

An even third quarter had the score 35-25 in Buffalo’s favor going into the fourth quarter. The Panthers had an opportunity to pull within six points with six minutes left, but a missed layup by Powell and a 3-pointer by Buffalo ended the rally.

One of Hildebrand’s takeaways from the first weekend was the contributions from nearly everybody on the team, with at least eight players scoring in each game.

 

POWELL 46, CODY 17

An early season rivalry game had the Panthers in their second weekend of action, as they hosted Cody on Dec. 17.

Powell jumped out early, leading Cody 10-3 after the first quarter, and a large 15-0 second quarter gave the Panthers a 25-3 lead at halftime.

A high pressure defense gave the Panthers their first half advantage, which Hildebrand said allowed them to practice their halfcourt offense more in the second half.

Powell led by a large margin of 35-8 after three quarters, and finished out the second half for the 46-17 victory to move to 3-1.

“This was a very good effort from all eight players that we had suited up for this one as both teams had to make some line-up changes due to illness for the games,” Hildebrand said.

The Panthers are currently in the middle of their winter break. The JV’s first game back will be on Saturday, Jan. 8, against Rocky Mountain at home.

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