The Lady Panther basketball team began conference play last weekend with two important games that would set the tone for the rest of the season and establish who will control the conference.

The Lady Panthers took on the Riverton Lady Wolverines on Friday Jan. 19, and the Lander Lady Tigers on Saturday.

Powell came out with a relatively slow start against the Lady Wolverines, only staying ahead by a few points for the first half of the game. Senior point guard Maddy Hanks contributed 3 points.

“It was a pretty rough game, but I think we did really good with staying tough on our home court  and pulling out a win even though we weren’t playing like we usually do,” Hanks said.

The Lady Panthers ended with a 40-29 win over the Lady Wolverines.

PHS then  took on the Lander Lady Tigers, only this game they were missing their senior leader Hanks.

The Lady Panthers played well in most aspects of the game, but struggled to get an offense going in the early minutes of the first half.

Junior guard Aubrie Stenerson was a high scorer in the game collecting 19 points, a lot of them coming from free throws.

“We all knew that our senior leader was missing and that we all needed to step up to get a win,” Stenerson said.

The Lady Tigers got in a lot of foul trouble having to sit two of their varsity starters for most of the fourth quarter.

Junior post Rachel Bonander was also a high scorer in the match against the Lady Tigers, taking down 9 rebounds and scoring 18 points.

The Lady Panthers are now 2-0 in the conference with a 7-3 overall record. The Lady Panthers will now take on their rivals, the Cody Fillies, on Friday, Jan. 26 at Sweitzer Gym in Cody

The Panther Basketball team also began conference play last weekend taking on the Riverton Wolverines and the Lander Tigers.

The Panthers came out fighting against the Wolverines and stayed close the entire game. The Panthers were struggling to get defensive rebounds, so the Wolverines got several extra shots that contributed to their lead throughout the game.

Another factor that affected the game was foul trouble. There were two players who fouled out in the game, junior post Carson Heinen and senior shooting guard Luke Washington.

When the clock started in OT, the score was tied up at 45-45. The panthers struggled to shut down the Wolverines during that four minute quarter and the Wolverines pulled ahead to win with a score of 61-53. Heinen and Washington are both starters, and not having two starters in OT while the clock is running down can be detrimental to a team’s play.

Senior point guard Jace smith collected 14 points against Riverton and senior guard Zach Meredith collected 11 rebounds.

“I think we played some of our best basketball so far, and were really coming together as a team,” Heinen said. “I think what really hurt us in that game was foul trouble, and I think we just need to learn how to close games, but I’m excited for what the rest of the season holds for us.”

The Panthers took on the Lander Tigers and the Panthers’ determination was evident in their play. The Panthers got down in the first half and the tigers pulled ahead with a 17-point lead, but the Panthers weren’t willing to lose at home that easily. PHS came back in the second half to tie up the game.

“I think we passed the ball really well, and really started to click offensively,” senior guard Aaron Jacobsen said regarding the Lander game. “But I think our defense could have definitely been improved in that game, especially in the first half.”

Jacobsen was a high scorer in the game collecting 10 points for the Panthers.

The Panthers fought back eventually tying it up at the end of the fourth quarter, but as the clock’s last seconds were winding down, the tigers pulled ahead by scoring a layup and making free-throws, winning with a 3-point lead (47-44).

The Panthers now have a conference record of 0-2 and an overall record of 4-6.

The Panthers will Travel to Cody on Friday Jan. 26 to take on their rivals the Broncs.