{gallery}12_15_09/phsgbball{/gallery}Powell junior Leslie Thronburg leaps to put up a shot against Jackson on Saturday. The Panthers comfortably prevailed in the rematch of last year's 3A state title game. Tribune photo by Randal Horobik PHS takes down Jackson They say revenge is a dish best served cold.If that's the case, the Lady Panthers basketball team got a healthy helping on Saturday, handily taking down the three-time defending state champion Lady Broncs of Jackson, 47-30.The game was a rematch of last season's Class 3A championship game, but it was almost unrecognizable from the contest played in March, where the Lady Panthers came up short.

“Jackson's been such a rival over the years, it feels good to finish on top, but at the same time, last year at this point is ancient history,” said PHS head coach Luke Danforth.

Powell (5-0 overall, 2-0 in conference play) never trailed in Saturday's game at the Panther Gym. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Jackson hit a 3-pointer at the six-minute mark. A little over a minute later, senior Kami Cooley responded with her own trey, and after two buckets by junior Olivia Rogers, it was 12-3. By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Panthers had a 19-6 lead.

Jackson, led by a flurry of points by senior Jessica Fischer in the second quarter, pulled within 4 points with just over two and a half minutes left in the half. But that, at 22-18, would be as close as the Lady Broncs would get.

“They'd start off with a basket or two and then we responded,” Coach Danforth said.

The Lady Panthers closed the half with a 9-0 run — including seven straight points from senior Hannah Pollart — to go up 31-18.

“Really when we were struggling to find ourselves and Savannah (Donarski) on the bench with foul trouble, Hannah (Pollart) stepped up,” Danforth said.

In the second half, the Lady Panthers never allowed Jackson to cut the lead to single digits, cruising to a 47-30 victory.

Jackson lost several key players from last season to graduation, and has stumbled out of the gate. Losses to Powell and Cody this weekend put their overall record at 1-4; Jackson lost just three games all of last season.

“I think they're just taking it on the chin right now,” Danforth said, predicting that JHS will improve. “They're not a bad basketball team.”

Powell sunk only one more field goal than Jackson, but made the difference at the free throw line, draining 19 of 27 attempts to Jackson's 5 of 7.

Pollart led the team with 19 points (including 16 in the first half), and added nine rebounds. Rogers joined her in double figures, scoring 12. Senior Donarski led the team with 10 rebounds, adding 6 points. Also scoring for Powell were junior Leslie Thronburg (7 points) and Cooley (3).

On Friday night, the Lady Panthers made short work of the Lady Wranglers from Pinedale (1-4), delivering a 53-13 thumping.

“That was just one of those games where we just steadily outpaced them,” Danforth said. PHS outscored Pinedale 16-3 in the first quarter, 13-2 in the second, 8-3 in the third, and 16-5 in the fourth.

Powell was dominant in every statistical category — outrebounding Pinedale 43-20 and holding them to a slim 20-percent shooting rate.

Thronburg led the team with a double-double, netting 12 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. Also registering double-digit point totals were Donarski and Rogers with 12 each, and Pollart with 11. The Lady Panthers also received points from junior Shellie Williams (3), Cooley (2), and junior Katie Kipp and sophomore Kendra Ostrom (1 each).

On Thursday, PHS will head to Lovell for a 5:45 p.m. contest with the now-Class 2A Lady Bulldogs (5-2), who were 3A opponents last year.

“They'll be ready for us up there,” Danforth predicted, noting that Lovell returns most of their players from last season.

On Saturday at 2:30 p.m., in their last game before the Christmas break, the Lady Panthers will host Buffalo (3-2), who Danforth expects to be the top team in Class 3A's Eastern Conference.