Panthers split road series

Surpass 2021 win total

Posted 2/8/22

Coming out of a weekend road trip with at least one victory was the goal for the Panther girls’ basketball team, and they achieved that by bringing home a victory over Kemmerer 35-21 on Friday. …

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Panthers split road series

Surpass 2021 win total

Posted

Coming out of a weekend road trip with at least one victory was the goal for the Panther girls’ basketball team, and they achieved that by bringing home a victory over Kemmerer 35-21 on Friday. The Powell High School team dropped its Saturday contest against Pinedale 76-49.

    

POWELL 35, KEMMERER 21

The Panthers (7-8 overall, 1-2 3A Northwest) knew they wanted a fast start against Kemmerer (5-12, 0-3 3A Southwest), planning to pressure the Rangers’ best players. Using this defensive scheme, the Panthers leapt out to a 7-0 lead, holding the Rangers scoreless for nearly six minutes.

“We had a game plan to make players that don’t typically score for them, try and score for them,” Panther head coach Chelsea Buher said. “The girls did a great job of executing the defensive scheme to a T. I’m very proud of the way they defended and kept their turnovers down to 15.”

Kemmerer worked its way back into the game at the end of the first quarter to make it 8-6. However, Powell was able to stretch its lead out to 13 points in the second period. The scoring quartet of freshman Catelynn Floy, sophomore Waycee Harvey and juniors Maddie Campbell and Megan Jacobsen scored every point for the Panthers, who took a 21-8 lead into halftime.

Coming out of the break, neither team could find the basket.

The only scoring for the first five minutes of the third quarter was a basket from Kemmerer to make it 21-10. Powell finally got its first points when a Kenzie Ratcliff steal gave the Panthers a fast break with 1:30 left in the quarter.

Despite some woes at the offensive end,  the Panthers kept their lead at nine or more points thanks to their defensive gameplan.

When the Panthers got offensive opportunities, it was thanks to their effort crashing the boards and getting second chances from their 14 offensive rebounds.

“Anytime a team plays a zone against you, it is very difficult for them to block you out, especially if you make it a priority to crash the offensive boards,” Buher said. “We did not shoot a great percentage this game, but due to our defensive abilities we were able to hold them [Kemmerer] to a low scoring game.”

In the fourth quarter the Panthers extended the lead out to as many as 16 points, taking a 35-21 victory.

Floy led the Panthers with 10 points, followed by Harvey with nine. Campbell and Jacobsen both added eight.

With the victory over Kemmerer, the Panthers surpassed their win total from 2021, and they’ll look to show continued growth in the third year for the program under Buher.

    

PINEDALE 76, POWELL 49

On Saturday, the Panthers made the trip to Pinedale to take on 3A’s No. 4 ranked Wranglers (14-3, 2-1 3A Southwest), who bring a unique blend of size, speed and shooting.

All three of those strengths were on display early as Pinedale came out in a 1-2-2 press mixed with a 1-3-1 zone that allowed the Wranglers to jump out to a 13-2 lead in the first five minutes.

Despite the constant pressure from the Wranglers, Powell found some offense late in the quarter to make it 20-8.

“It was hit and miss for us at times during the game to break it with ease, then other times we struggled, more-so from our own doing, but something we will just have to get better at,” Buher said.

Pinedale continued to press the Panthers in the second quarter and grabbed a 46-23 lead at halftime.

Both teams came out shooting in the second half, both scoring 20 points in the third quarter. Pinedale led 66-43 going into the final period.

Trailing 72-45 with four minutes remaining, Buher pulled her starters as the Wranglers won 76-49.

“Pinedale is a good team, I cannot take anything away from them,” Buher said. “We did not play our best defense this game and it showed. Offensively, I felt like we scored the ball well, but we just were unable to lock down defensively this game.”

Campbell led the way for the Panthers with 15 points, Harvey had 11 and Jacobsen added 10.

   

HOME CONTESTS

After five consecutive games on the road, the Panthers will return home and host Buffalo (8-6 overall, 1-2 3A Northeast) and Worland (7-8 overall, 1-2 3A Northwest) this weekend.

The matchup with Buffalo on Friday at 5 p.m. will be a rematch from the opening weekend where the Bison forced the Panthers into 35 turnovers and ran away with a 51-33 win.

Saturday will bring a 2:30 p.m. matchup with Worland that the Panthers have been looking forward to, as they lost to the Warriors just over two weeks ago, 45-43.

“Our primary focus has to be Worland as they are a conference quadrant opponent,” Buher said. “We will review a little bit of what Buffalo does, but the majority of time will be towards Worland, as they got us by a buzzer beater at their place.”

     

POWELL 35, KEMMERER 21

Points — Catelynn Floy 10, Waycee Harvey 9, Maddie Campbell 8, Megan Jacobsen 8

Rebounds — Harvey 11, Jacobsen 7, Campbell 4, Floy 4, Kaili Wisniewski 1, Kenzie Ratcliff 1, Saige Kidd 1

Assists — Harvey 2, Campbell 2, Jacobsen 2, Wisniewski 1, Kidd 1, Ratcliff 1, Floy 1

Steals — Campbell 5, Harvey 4, Floy 3, Wisniewski 1, Ratcliff 1

   

PINEDALE 76, POWELL 49

Points — Campbell 15, Harvey 11, Jacobsen 10, Floy 4, Kidd 3, Wisniewski 2, Abby Wambeke 2, Blake Nissen 2

Rebounds — Campbell 6, Floy 5, Jacobsen 3, Nissen 3, Harvey 2, Kidd 2, Wisniewski 1, Gretel Opps 1

Assists — Campbell 7, Harvey 4, Floy 2, Jacobsen 1

Steals — Campbell 3, Harvey 2, Floy 1, Jacobsen 1

Powell High School, Panther Basketball

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