It was one of the most important weeks of the season for high school basketball teams vying to move on and win a state championship.

The Panther and Lady Panther basketball teams headed to the 3A regional tournament in Pinedale March 1-3  to try and solidify their position at the state tournament in Casper, which will be March 8-11 in Casper.

The Lady Panthers opened regional play against the Pinedale Lady Wranglers at 5:00 Thursday night. Earlier in the season, Powell defeated the Pinedale 39-22, and they entered this first-round game hoping for a repeat of their last match-up.

The Lady Panthers came out looking somewhat sluggish from the 6-hour bus ride and surrendered the first 5 points of the game to the Lady Wranglers. This seemed to wake up the Lady Panthers, who went on to defeat the Lady Wranglers 44-25.

After their match-up against the Lady Wranglers, the Lady panthers went on to play the Lander Lady Tigers for a semifinal game to determine who would be in the championship.

The Lady Tigers had upset the No. 3-ranked Mountain View Lady Buffaloes the day before, earning their own first win of the tournament.

The Lady Panthers entered the game eager for a win to seal their spot at the state tournament. Powell came out aggressively and attacked the basket well, playing solid defense and shutting down The Lady Tigers’ best 3-point shooters.

Junior guard Karlie McKenzie was the high scorer of the game with 14 points, knocking down two 3-pointers and several jump shots.

“I think we did a really good job of working together as a team and always finding the open girl,” McKenzie said. “I think we all knew that they were important games and we all stepped up and just played our hearts out.”

The Lady Tigers have a lot of size on their side, so their main tactic was to post up the Lady Panther guards to try to score points within the paint. This meant the Lady Panthers would have to play very good help defense to prevent passes into the post.

PHS got into some foul trouble late in the game when the Lady Tigers began attacking the basket and getting the ball up the court quickly for easy baskets. Maddy Hanks, the team’s lone senior, fouled out in the fourth quarter of the game. Junior Rachel Bonander had 4 fouls, and  junior Aubrie Stenerson had 3 fouls.

The Lady Panthers ended the game with a solid win, outscoring the Lady tigers 55-44 to punch their ticket for the trip to the state tournament in Casper.

This win also put the Lady Panthers in the championship match against the Star Valley Lady Braves to compete for first and second seeding at state, and also the regional championship trophy sitting on the scorer’s table.

PHS had  already defeated the Lady Braves early in the season in overtime.

The Lady Panthers came out strong and controlled the game for first three quarters. Through the first 24 minutes of the game, it was evident that the Lady Panthers were eager to win that trophy.

However, as the fourth quarter rolled around , the Powell struggled to score and was in deep foul trouble, going into the double-bonus for most of the fourth quarter. This gave Star Valley many chances at the free throw line, which ended up being the difference in the game.

In the end, the Lady Braves pulled ahead in the final three minutes and kept that lead to win the championship 43-39, knocking the Lady Panthers to second place.

PHS will now take on the Worland Lady Warriors on Thursday, March 8, at the Casper Events Center at 9 a.m.  for their first round at state. (Click here to view the girls’ tournament bracket.)

The Panthers opened regionals with a game against the Star Valley Braves, who had  already beat them earlier in the season.

The Panthers started slow and struggled to score towards the end of the first half, digging themselves a hole that they couldn’t claw out of.

The Panther team chemistry seemed to be off during the game, with several turnovers and missed passes.

The Panthers ended up losing to the Braves 64-51, putting them in a loser-out game against the Pinedale Wranglers the next day. The Wranglers had lost to the Cody Broncs the day before, so this game would determine who went home and who lived to fight another day.

“I think that as a team we worked really well together to try to reach our goal, which was to go to state,” senior guard Luke Washington said. “Unfortunately we didn’t reach that goal in the end.”

The Panthers came out strong against the Wranglers, keeping it close for most of the first half.

Powell had a large size advantage over the Wranglers, but this did not prove to be helpful because although the Wranglers didn’t have much size, they outran the Panthers and scored many points in transition.

By pushing the floor, they created multiple opportunities for breakaway layups and separated themselves in the point tally.

One particularly bad series ended in a – point trip for the Wranglers as a shot foul was followed by a technical foul called on the Panther bench. All four free throws sunk, this was followed by a 3-pointer off of a steal, giving the Wranglers a 7 point run on the Panthers.

This seemed to be a turning point in the game, from which the Panthers never recovered. The technical violation was both untimely and debatable, but not one that could be contested.

The Wranglers kept the lead to win the game 63-52. This loss eliminated the Panthers from the regional tournament, taking away their chance to play for a state title. (Click here for the boys’ tournament bracket.)

The Panthers are graduating five  seniors this season, and although their season ended earlier than expected, they still see the season as a positive part of their lives and their high school careers.

“What I took from this experience was the unbelievable bonds that were formed throughout the season,” Washington said. “It truly is a brotherhood, this experience of being on this team is something I will never forget.”