Lady Bulldogs fall to Powell, bounce back in Thermopolis

The Lovell Lady Bulldogs failed to overcome the Powell Lady Panthers’ aggressiveness last Thursday night in their 48-27 conference loss in Johnny Winterholler gymnasium, but they came back strong in Thermopolis Friday, winning 50-36.
Lovell struggled getting shots to fall to put points on the board Thursday, only shooting a combined 21 percent from the field on the night, dropping the Lady Bulldogs to 1-1 in their conference standings.
“It was another situation where we continued to have empty possessions offensively, and we’re either missing opportunities at the rim or turning the ball over in the half court,” Lovell head coach Chris Edwards said. “Powell is too good of a team to not get conversions when they get the chance.”
Lovell failed to score double digit points in any of the four quarters while Powell never scored fewer than 10 in any given period. The home team quickly found themselves down 26-12 heading into halftime.
The Lady Bulldogs handled the full-court pressure from the Lady Panthers well throughout the game but were plagued with 25 turnovers in the half-court. Powell’s length and athleticism kept Lovell out-of-sync and created easy points in transition for the Lady Panthers off of those turnovers by Lovell.
“Powell also does a good job of getting second and third chance opportunities with offensive rebounding that continued to give them momentum and kept us from closing the gap,” Edwards noted.
Breeah Jones knocked down two three-pointers in the game to end with 6 points, while Libby Mickelson and Celeste Lindsay also matched that total, scoring 6 points each to lead the Lady Bulldogs.
Kennadee Owens added 5 points in the contest, and both Kenadee Rael and Summer Teter finished with 2 apiece.
As the Lady Bulldogs move forward, they plan to focus on controlling their mental approaches during the games to prevent small, simple mistakes from compounding into multiple, bigger mistakes.
“We hope to respond with better composure the next go-round in Powell,” Edwards said.
Thermop win
There was minimal time to dwell on Thursday’s loss since the Lady Bulldogs turned around and traveled to Thermopolis for another conference match on Friday.
Lovell was determined to change the outcome, and after overcoming a slow start, they were able to seal the 50-36 victory over the Lady Bobcats.
“The first quarter was similar to Thursday night,” Edwards said. “We came out a little sluggish and had more empty possessions from self-inflicted turnovers that led to us being down 16-15.
“We also had some missed defensive assignments that allowed their best shooters to get open, comfortable looks. I appreciated the girls flipping the switch and becoming more patient, which resulted in higher percentage shots.”
Lovell also amped up the defensive effort, holding the Lady Bobcats to only 3 points in the second quarter to take a 26-19 advantage into the locker rooms at halftime.
Jones had a burst of scoring late in that quarter that gave the Lady Bulldogs some of that momentum and a little breathing room ending the half on a good note.
Feeling the game slip away, Thermopolis desperately attempted to apply a full-court press toward the end of the third quarter that Edwards thought his team handled extremely well.
Owens had the hot hand in the quarter, pouring in 10 points in the paint that came as the result of the Lovell press breaker and connecting with her on the backside running up the floor. She completed the game with a team-high 15 points and six rebounds.
Mickelson was also consistent on both ends of the court, scoring 10 and grabbing eight rebounds.
“She has connected on a couple of shots behind the arc lately and is working to extend her range and develop that offensive threat,” Edwards said of Mickelson. “Keyanna Walker also came in off the bench and gave us good spurts of scoring and was more physical on defense and rebounding.”
Jones finished with 11 points, Walker 5, Rael 4, Teter 3 and Raegan May 2.
Rael and May both connected with teammates for four assists each, while Rael and Teter led the team with three steals apiece in the game.
Up next
The Lady Bulldogs now hit the road to face Pinedale and Lander this weekend.
“These two games are pivotal to prove that we will be able to compete with some of these Southwest opponents we will face at Regionals,” Edwards said. “We need to play harder than both of them for the full 32 minutes.”
First off, Lovell will have their hands full on Friday, trying to stop Pinedale’s junior point guard, Elyn Bowers, who averages 23 points per game this season.
“We will have to limit her touches and make her earn her points and force her to give the ball up,” Edwards said. “She’s got a good supporting cast, so we will have to be disciplined when we switch our defenses.”
Tip-off against the Lady Wranglers will be at 5:30 p.m. in Pinedale.
On Saturday, Lovell will take on the Lady Tigers at 2:30 p.m. in Lander.
“They have proven to be capable of beating anyone on any given day, and their post players can score in bunches if we don’t trust our defensive assignments and rotate where we need to be,” Edwards said.
Both games will follow the junior varsity games scheduled for 4 p.m. in Pinedale and 1 p.m. in Lander.
JV update
The Lady Bulldog junior varsity squad dominated Thermopolis 50-26 Friday with a balanced offensive effort.
Kaydree Owens led the way scoring 11 points in the game, while Brooklin Clark added 7 and Becca Nichols 6.
Both Kandace Asay and Celeste Lindsay had 5 points, Kira Collins 4, Jenna Hessenthaler and Angela Lopez 3 each and the trio of Lauryn Marchant, CeCe Collins and Hannity Felkins all with 2.
The previous night, the Lovell JV girls fell to Powell 37-23.
Hessenthaler tallied 7 points against the Lady Panthers, and Owens added 5. Felkins ended with 4, Nichols 3, Lindsay 3 and Collins 1.