The Lady Panther basketball team traveled to Casper March 8-10 to compete in the state basketball tournament hoping to bring home a state championship trophy for Powell High School.

In the end, they placed third after finishing second the week before at the regional tournament, losing to the Star Valley Braves in the championship game.

Going into state seeded second, PHS would play the No. 3 seed from the other side of the state, the Worland Lady Warriors. The Lady Panthers had beaten the Lady Warriors twice and lost to them once in the regular season, putting PHS at an advantage.

The Lady Panthers came out swinging, gaining a 10-point lead in the first quarter and putting the Lady Warriors in some foul trouble early.

Junior post Rachel Bonander also picked up two fouls early in the game, having to sit the bench for some of the first and third quarters, but still remaining  one of the team’s high scorers of the game with 14 points, Junior guard Aubrie Stenerson had 16 points

Coming out of halftime, the Lady Panthers gave up some easy shots and free throws to the Lady Warriors, letting them inch closer and closer to a tied game. But the Lady Panthers ended up winning the game 42-39, advancing to the state semifinals against the top-ranked Douglas Lady Bearcats.

The Lady Panthers had played the Lady Bearcats twice in the regular season, losing both times. The Lady Bearcats went into the semifinal game with a perfect 25-0 record.

The Lady Panthers went into the game hoping to break this perfect winning streak, but fell short in the end losing 47-30 to the Lady Bearcats.

“I think we played really hard and we never gave up,” said senior guard Maddy Hanks. “I think we believed that we could win even though they were undefeated and we just played as hard as we could.”

PHS got in foul trouble early, with Bonander picking up two fouls in the early seconds of the first quarter, which meant trouble for the Lady Panthers, having to sit one of their top scorers

in a state semifinal game. Still, PHS only trailed 19-15 at the half.

The Lady Panthers couldn’t seem to get control of the game, trailing in scoring all four quarters.  Powell didn’t shoot a single free throw the entire game, while Douglas went 6 for 12..

After their defeat to the Lady Bearcats, the Lady Panthers went on to play the Star Valley Braves for third and fourth place, and after their loss to the Lady Braves at regionals, the Lady Panthers were not willing to give up another loss to them that easily.

The first half seemed to be a defensive battle, with both teams only scoring in the single digits. The scoring picked up slightly in the second quarter, with the Lady Panthers leading 15-11 going into halftime. Bonander lead in scoring with 13 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.

“Star Valley is a great team and we lost to them at regionals and i think that losing to them made us want to win it even more at state,” Bonander said.

In the second half, the Lady Panthers scored more consistently and built a nine-point lead to take the game and the third-place trophy. Although the Lady Panthers 4-of-21 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, they still managed to come away with a 40-34 win.