Playing a series of tough opponents while implementing a new system under a new coach made for a tough opening weekend for an inexperienced Powell High School girls basketball team.

The Panthers dropped their first three games of the season to Rawlins (46-20), Buffalo (67-25) and Douglas (73-12) at the Friday-Saturday East-West Classic in Buffalo.

However, “We’re going to be better from it,” said PHS head coach Chelsea Buher.

For most of the Powell girls, they entered the weekend with no varsity experience; Buher told her squad not to get frustrated and never to give up.

“We’ll take some knocks on the chin here early, and we’ll take some along the way and hopefully come whenever games matter, come regional time, we’re going to be a whole different team,” Buher said.

Between now and the postseason, the coach said her players will need to figure out their new roles.

With eight seniors a year ago, “you had go-to players that you knew, whenever the game was on the line, who the ball was going to,” said Buher. But with those players having graduated, the coach has been driving home to her team that “you’re not being looked upon as a role player, you’re now in the middle of the mix,” she said, “and we need you to look to score and look to be the dribbler or the rebounder or whatever the case may be that we need you to do.”

Amid the losses, there were positives for the Powell girls.

For instance, the Panthers did well on the boards — picking up more rebounds than Buffalo and Rawlins.

“They went out and rebounded really well. … I’m very happy with that,” Buher said of her squad, specifically noting that Rawlins had more size.

The coach also tipped her hat to
Douglas, Buffalo and Rawlins, saying that “all three of them have good teams.”

Rawlins 46, Powell 20

The Panthers suffered through some first-game jitters on Friday afternoon against Rawlins, particularly struggling with turnovers.

“It was just so much on their minds during that game and we were overcoming a lot of things — the main thing being that nobody had varsity experience prior to that,” Buher said.

PHS struggled in the first and third quarters, being outscored 29-6, but hung with the Outlaws in the second and fourth periods, trailing just 17-14.

The Powell girls sank seven of 24 attempts (24 percent) from the floor and six of 13 at the line. Junior Hailee Hyde scored eight points on 3-of-6 shooting, while also collecting eight rebounds. Another junior, Rylynn Valdez, had seven points on 3-of-4 shooting. Also scoring for the Panthers were senior Kortny Feller and junior Rose Graft (two points each) and junior Paije Johnson (one point). Senior Sabrina Shoopman and Feller each had four rebounds.

Buffalo 67, Powell 25

Playing against the hosting Bison on Friday night, coach Buher saw improvement from the contest with Rawlins.

“We got the nerves out of that first game and ... fixed some things,” she said.

For example, the Panther girls reduced their turnovers and improved their shooting percentage. PHS shot 10-of-35 from the floor (29 percent), while going 5-of-14 from the free throw line.

Coach Buher felt her squad played well for two-and-a-half quarters, but “in the last quarter-and-a-half, I think we just kind of ran out of gas.”

Junior Madi Fields scored eight points, followed by seven from Johnson and six from Shoopman. Senior Sidney O’Brien and Hyde each had two points, while O’Brien, Hyde and Johnson each had six rebounds to lead the team.

Douglas 70, Powell 12

The Douglas Bearcats roared into the 2019-20 season looking as though they’re set on repeating as Class 3A state champs. The Bearcats ripped through their four opponents at the East-West Classic by a combined score of 297-106.

No team was able to hold the Bearcats — who sport a lot of height — under 70 points.

Douglas stifled the Panther offense, as Powell went 5-of-32 from the floor and 1-of-4 at the free throw line. Valdez had four points, while Fields and Johnson added three apiece and Feller two. Senior Tenna DesJarlais and Johnson each had four rebounds.

Going into and during the contest, “I just told them, ‘We didn’t come in here Dec. 14 expecting to beat Douglas today; that’s not why we came into this game,’” Buher recalled. “We came into this game because we’re working for something more.”

While it will take some time, “our goal is to be a different team than we are now once we hit February,” she said.

Buher said the team worked to focus on things it could control; Powell had the fewest number of turnovers against Douglas, though with 32, that remains an area they’re targeting for improvement.

Next up for the PHS girls will be a 5:30 p.m. Friday matchup with the Class 4A Cody Fillies on the road.