An opening game 61-51 loss to Lander meant the Powell Panther girls’ basketball team had its back against the wall on Friday and Saturday, but the Panthers defeated Worland 57-31 and Mountain View 50-45 to secure a state berth before ultimately losing to the Tigers once again 49-41 in the third place game.

LANDER 61, POWELL 51

Kicking off the tournament the Panthers (17-9) took on the host Tigers (14-11) in the opening game Thursday, and got off to a strong start.

Powell took a 7-0 lead inside the first two minutes of the game, before Lander worked its way back into the contest.

Turnovers and attempting to break down a zone defense led to the Tigers getting back in the game, tying it before quarter’s end and taking an 11-9 advantage into the second.

Unable to stop Lander on its scoring run, the Panthers’ deficit grew in the second quarter, with the Tigers making it 24-14 with 3:04 left and forcing a Powell timeout.

Lander kept pressing and taking advantage of mistakes by the Panthers, as the hosts led 30-18 at the break.

The second half continued that trend early on, with the Tigers seemingly unable to miss. They pushed their advantage to 40-21 with 5:37 left in the third and forced another Powell timeout.

“They shot the ball really well, and we didn’t dictate early,” coach Chelsea Kistler said.

Powell’s deficit continued to grow, and reached as much as 44-21 before the Panthers finally regained their footing for the final 10 minutes.

By quarter’s end the Panthers cut the deficit down to 53-35, and quickly cut it down to 56-40 with five minutes remaining.

The Panthers’ half-court trap started to cause problems for Lander, getting the score all the way to 57-47 with two minutes remaining.

It was a case of too little, too late, as the Panthers fell to the Tigers 61-51.

“We played like our backs were against the wall in the last bit of that game, and it caused them to have a lot of turnovers and we executed,” Kistler said. “It was just a little bit too late.”

Emery Hernandez led with 17 points, Coy Erickson and Catelynn Floy each added 15 as Floy led with six rebounds.

Alexa Richardson and Erickson led with four assists each.

POWELL 57, WORLAND 31

Heading into Friday a loss meant the end of the Panther season, as they took on Worland (1-22) for the third time this year.

“I just told the girls to refocus and play like our backs are against the wall, because it’s losers out, don’t overlook these guys and take care of business,” Kistler said.

Scoring was slow early on for the Panthers as they led 6-4 midway through the first, but the scoring picked up behind Ivy Agee late in the first to give Powell a 16-9 lead after the initial frame.

The lead hovered around the same margin to the midway point of the second, before the Panthers made one final push to pull away in the first half, once again behind Agee.

Her 3-pointer made it a 25-14 game with two minutes left, before she capped off a stellar first half with 17 points as the Panthers led 33-17 at the break.

“Ivy caught fire, and the girls did a really good job of getting her the ball and knew who had the hot hand,” Kistler said.

Hernandez’s layup helped make it 20 in the third quarter as the Panthers led 39-19 with five minutes remaining, and continued to roll in the second half.

Erickson’s free throws made it 55-25 with 4:25 left in the fourth quarter, and the Panthers were able to get playing time for the entire bench as they earned the 57-31 win to keep their season alive.

Agee finished with 25 points and Hernandez added 10 as the other Panther in double figures.

Erickson led with nine rebounds and Hernandez added four assists while five Panthers recorded three steals each.

POWELL 50, MOUNTAIN VIEW 45

Winning Friday meant the Panthers had another elimination game on Saturday, taking on Mountain View (17-8) and looking to end a recent string of losses against the Buffalos.

“We decided to take the toughest route — But, they were pumped and ready to go for Mountain View,” Kistler said.

The Panthers and Buffalos exchanged the lead early, as Mountain View led 13-10 heading into the second.

Powell continued to trail early in the second quarter, but made a quick push out of an early Mountain View timeout and took an 18-17 lead on an Erickson 3-pointer with 5:03 remaining.

The two teams were deadlocked with three minutes remaining at 20 each, before the Panthers ended the first half with a 26-24 lead behind a strong half by Erickson.

In the third quarter the Panthers continued to pour it in from long range, building their advantage to 36-28 and forcing a Mountain View timeout with 3:52 remaining.

Unfortunately, foul trouble started plaguing the Panthers, as Erickson picked up her fourth foul and the Buffalos made their run.

“They were getting the whistle, they shot 36 free throws to our 17,” Kistler said. “That was very concerning and other people had to step up.”

The lead was cut down to 36-32, before a Leah Graham layup stopped the push by Mountain View and the Panthers led 38-33 going into the fourth quarter.

Powell pushed it to a double digit advantage in the final frame, up 43-33 after a Hernandez layup with 5:22 left.

Unfortunately for Powell, Hernandez fouled out just a minute later and the Panthers had to hold on the final four minutes without one of their primary guards and free throw shooters.

The Buffalos made a run despite the Panthers needing to play three bigs late due to foul trouble, but Powell held on and made enough free throws to defeat Mountain View 50-45.

“We were in better shape and were able to execute in the long run,” Kistler said. “It was a team effort (to kill time), because you saw it go from Coy’s hands, to Ivy’s to Alexa’s to Saige and to Floy. I mean it was being passed around, and in the past, a game like that, we wouldn’t have finished it. But we’ve been in so many situations and games like that, I was really proud of them for executing at the end there, stalling it out and keeping it out of reach.”

Hernandez led with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Erickson had 16 points and led with four steals and three blocks.

LANDER 49, POWELL 41

After all the results the Panthers and Tigers matched up again in the third place game, and a game of runs ensued.

Scoring was hard to come by for either team in the first quarter, as Powell led 5-1 partway through, and 7-3 at quarter’s end.

Lander found its shooting touch in the second quarter, taking a 12-11 lead midway through the second quarter on a 3-pointer, and held a 19-17 advantage at the break.

Once again the Tigers carried their momentum into the second half, building their advantage out to 30-20 before the Panthers got going once again.

Three straight 3-pointers by Agee and Hernandez helped cap off a run by the Panthers to regain the lead at 33-31, before leading 34-31 heading into the fourth.

Powell stretched the lead out to five before the Tigers started their final run, as Powell trailed 38-36 midway through the final frame.

“We kind of ran out of energy,” Kistler said.

The Panthers trailed 44-39 with 2:22 remaining and Powell couldn’t find its way into the lead again as the Tigers pulled away for a 49-41 win.

“It was a game of runs and whoever had the last run was going to win, and they unfortunately had it,” Kistler said. “They shot the ball well again, they are a good shooting team, but they’re a great shooting team at home.”

Hernandez was the only Panther in double figures with 21 points, and added five steals.

Floy led with five rebounds and Agee led with three assists.

STATE TOURNAMENT

The season comes to an end this week in Casper, as the Panthers will be heading to the state tournament for the third straight year.

For the second time in three years the Panthers will open against defending state champion and east No. 1-seed Douglas (24-1), which will be seeking a seventh straight title.

The Bearcats defeated the Panthers the second weekend of the season 60-41, with Kistler noting the Panthers have changed since that first matchup.

“We’re a way different team than we were when we first played them,” Kistler said. “Douglas is who they are. They’re good, I’m not going to take anything away from them. They’re a juggernaut for another year this year, and they’re going to be hungry to finish out on a high note … You never know. Pinedale has beaten them (Douglas) and we have the capabilities of beating Pinedale and had close games against those guys. And we’ve had close games against those guys (Pinedale) in the past. We’ve just got to go compete and play like we’ve got nothing to lose, because we’ve got nothing to lose.”

That game will be at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Ford Wyoming Center.

If Powell wins it will take on the winner of west No. 2-seed Pinedale (22-2) and east No. 3-seed (20-8) at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at Casper College.

If Powell loses it will take on the loser of that contest at 10:30 a.m. on Friday at Casper College.

LANDER 61, POWELL 51

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Emery Hernandez 17, Coy Erickson 15, Catelynn Floy 15, Saige Kidd 4

Rebounds — Catelynn Floy 6 (4), Coy Erickson 5 (1), Saige Kidd 4 (3), Emery Hernandez 2 (2), Ivy Agee 1 (1), Ava Teten 1 (1), Leah Graham 1

Assists — Alexa Richardson 4, Coy Erickson 3, Emery Hernandez 2, Ivy Agee 2, Catelynn Floy 2, Leah Graham 1

Steals — Alexa Richardson 4, Coy Erickson 4, Emery Hernandez 3, Ivy Agee 3, Leah Graham 1, Catelynn Floy 1

POWELL 57, WORLAND 31

Points — Ivy Agee 25, Emery Hernandez 10, Alexa Richardson 5, Catelynn Floy 5, Coy Erickson 4, Ava Teten 4, Saige Kidd 2, Leah Graham 2

Rebounds — Coy Erickson 9 (3), Saige Kidd 5 (2), Catelynn Floy 5 (3), Kindyle Floy 3 (2), Alexa Richardson 2, Emery Hernandez 2 (1), Hali Hancock 1, Ivy Agee 1 (1), Ava Teten 1 (1), Leah Graham 1 (1)

Assists — Emery Hernandez 4, Alexa Richardson 3, Ivy Agee 2, Leah Graham 2, Coy Erickson 1

Steals — Alexa Richardson 3, Coy Erickson 3, Ivy Agee 3, Saige Kidd 3, Catelynn Floy 3, Emery Hernandez 1

POWELL 50, MOUNTAIN VIEW 45

Points — Emery Hernandez 17, Coy Erickson 16, Ivy Agee 8, Catelynn Floy 6, Leah Graham 2, Alexa Richardson 1

Rebounds — Emery Hernandez 8 (7), Saige Kidd 5 (2), Alexa Richardson 4, Leah Graham 4 (1), Catelynn Floy 3 (3), Coy Erickson 1 (1), Ivy Agee 1

Assists — Emery Hernandez 6, Coy Erickson 3, Alexa Richardson 2, Catelynn Floy 1

Steals — Coy Erickson 4, Alexa Richardson 3, Ivy Agee 3, Emery Hernandez 2, Saige Kidd 1

Blocks — Coy Erickson 3, Alexa Richardson 1, Catelynn Floy 1

LANDER 49, POWELL 41

Points — Emery Hernandez 21, Coy Erickson 9, Ivy Agee 5, Catelynn Floy 3, Saige Kidd 2, Leah Graham 1

Rebounds — Catelynn Floy 5 (2), Coy Erickson 4 (1), Ivy Agee 3 (2), Saige Kidd 3, Emery Hernandez 2, Alexa Richardson 1 (1), Ava Teten 1, Leah Graham 1

Assists — Ivy Agee 3, Alexa Richardson 2, Coy Erickson 2, Ava Teten 2, Leah Graham 1

Steals — Emery Hernandez 5, Alexa Richardson 1, Ivy Agee 1, Leah Graham 1, Catelynn Floy 1

Blocks — Emery Hernandez 1