An impressive season came to a close with a pair of close losses being the only blemish on the seventh grade Powell Middle School girls’ basketball team’s record, finishing 15-2 and runners-up in the conference tournament.

Powell opened the season 12-0. 

The Cubs defeated the Laurel eighth grade team 29-8, Riverton 42-14, Lander 35-15, Burlington 36-16, Lovell 38-13, Worland 47-13, Cody 29-24, Sheridan 34-32, Buffalo 35-12, Rocky Mountain 38-7, Worland 37-7 and Lovell 32-11.

The first blemish for the Cubs came in a close road game at Cody, where it came down to a single point as Cody pulled out a 20-19 win.

Powell then defeated Tongue River 30-27 and went into the conference tournament with a first round bye.

In the semifinal game the Cubs rolled past Worland 44-6, led by Blayke Tharpe and Maci MaGill who each had 10 points.

Heading into the championship game the Cubs matched up with the only team to defeat them during the season in Cody, in a game which was a lot slower paced than their semifinal contest.

Coach Jaci Hitz said the Cubs were ahead for a majority of the contest, but fell late once again to Cody 27-25 to finish second.

Jersee Erickson was the lone Cub in double figures with 10 points.

Hitz said that the chemistry of the Cubs helped propel the team this season, allowing them to push the ball up the court faster by the end of the year.

“This team’s strengths consisted of working well together and having great team chemistry,” Hitz said. “We got very good at pushing the ball up the floor and looking for our early offense. We also got better at looking inside to our posts and getting them good passes.”

She said that the Cubs faced a difficult injury early in the year, as Erickson hurt her wrist the first week of practice and was out for a couple of weeks, although it allowed other guards to step up in her absence.

“The adversity the other three main guards faced and overcame was tremendous,” Hitz said. “I was so proud of Finley Franklin, Iyla Whitlock and Maci MaGill for their efforts to become better ball-handlers and better decision makers.”

Tharpe was the leading scorer and rebounder for the team, bringing consistency to the team while other post players improved throughout the season.

“Our other post players, Stella Leighton and Kayson Park, got better every single day and continued to improve on their inside game,” Hitz said.

In addition to the ‘A’ team finishing with a 15-2 record, the ‘B’ team finished with a 17-0 record.

She said that moving forward she feels the team needs to improve on individual skill sets, but sees future success.

“Improvements were made by the entire team all season. This is going to be a great team in the future,” Hitz said.