Powell size and pace challenge Lady Grizz

The Rocky Mountain High School Lady Grizz traveled to Powell on Thursday night to face a significantly stronger opponent in the 3A Powell Lady Panthers. Powell controlled the flow early and steadily increased its advantage each quarter on the way to a 77-39 victory.

The Panthers set the tone in the opening quarter, using their height advantage and guard play to force turnovers and score in transition. Powell outscored Rocky Mountain 21–10 in the first quarter, quickly establishing control. Despite the early deficit, Rocky Mountain head coach Justin Moss said the defensive effort itself was not the main concern.

“You would think giving up 77 points that our defense wasn’t very good,” Moss said, “but we actually gave up 46 points in transition off our turnovers. Defensively, we did some good things. We just turned it over too much, which provided easy shots for them.”

Powell continued to separate in the second quarter behind persistent full-court pressure to take a 37-20 halftime lead, capped by a last-second three-point play just before the buzzer. Rocky Mountain finished the night shooting 13-of-35 from the field (37 percent) and 11-of-17 from the free-throw line (65 percent), but the possession gap proved decisive.

“They had about 72 shots and we only had 33,” Moss said. “It’s hard to win games like that.”

Senior Lauren Bassett led the Lady Grizz with 18 points, shooting 6-of-11 from the floor and 6-of-8 at the line, while adding 7 rebounds. Moss noted that Bassett settled in as the game progressed, saying she was “a little nervous and tentative early,” before playing closer to her normal level.

Rocky Mountain continued to compete in the third quarter, attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line despite Powell’s size and pressure. The Panthers again closed the period with a buzzer-beating basket, outscoring the Lady Grizz 20–9 in the quarter to extend the lead to 57-29 heading into the fourth. Rocky Mountain finished the game 2-of-11 from three-point range, limiting its ability to stretch Powell’s defense.

Junior Halle Grandalen scored 7 points and pulled down 9 rebounds, adding 2 steals and a block while battling inside. Kaysie Cooley added 5 points and 3 assists, and senior Keylee Christiansen contributed 3 points and 3 assists.

By the fourth quarter, the cumulative effect of turnovers and rebounding continued to show, with Powell taking the final period 20-10 to close out the game. 

Rocky Mountain’s bench was limited offensively, with freshman Sawyer Bassett scoring 3 points in extended varsity minutes and Avery Thomas adding 2 points as the Lady Grizz continued to rotate players and build experience.

Rocky Mountain committed 29 turnovers, while finishing with 23 total rebounds, 10 assists and five steals. Moss said the matchup, while difficult, served a clear purpose. “They’ve got really tough guards that we had a hard time handling,” he said. “But we played decent defense, we attacked the basket at times, and our shooting percentage was pretty decent. The two things that hurt us most were turnovers and rebounding.”

Moss emphasized that games like this are part of a longer process.

“It’s the refiner’s fire,” he said. “They expose what you need to fix. But it also makes the game feel slower when you play teams that aren’t as physical or fast. If we learn from it, it helps us.”