PAVILLION – The competition heated up for the Big Piney High School Lady Punchers at the Foothills Classic Tournament, hosted by Wind River and Wyoming Indian high schools, on Dec. 9-10.

A nail biter against 2A Southwest Quadrant rival St. Stephens opened the action for Big Piney on Friday. While the game’s outcome remained within one or two possessions through all four quarters, St. Stephens failed to overtake Big Piney. The Lady Punchers captured the win, 41-36.

Bright and early on Saturday morning, Big Piney squared off against the 2A Wright Lady Panthers. The Lady Punchers trailed by only 2 points at halftime before the Wright offense overpowered Big Piney in the second half to take the win, 45-33.

Refusing to throw in the towel, the Lady Punchers rallied on Saturday afternoon to trounce the 2A Greybull Lady Buffaloes, 46-35.

St. Stephens

Big Piney won the battle for the first period, 14-10. Defensive pressure by Big Piney sophomore Micah Strong led to a turnover. Senior Rayne Wheeler netted a layup. Strong rustled a steal, setting up senior Sharianne Brower for a 3-pointer.

Senior Shelby Guest snatched a pair of steals. Strong and Wheeler both netted layups.

Senior Hannah Runyan broke through St. Stephens’ perimeter to score. Strong grabbed another steal and Wheeler sunk a jumper.

St. Stephens turned the tables in the second quarter, outscoring Big Piney, 11-8. Defensive pressure by Strong, Wheeler and Guest forced several turnovers early in the quarter. Wheeler scored a layup. Brower nabbed a steal and Runyan netted a close-range shot.

Brower forced a turnover and Strong scored inside the paint. Guest snatched a steal, allowing freshman Lizzy Brandt to score 2 points.

The halftime score favored Big Piney, 22-21.

The third quarter remained close, with Big Piney netting 10 points to 9 from St. Stephens. Strong, Wheeler, Guest and Runyan each contributed points.

The Lady Punchers widened the gap in the fourth quarter. Runyan scored a point from the charity stripe. Brower made a jumper and Guest tossed in a layup. Wheeler scored a close range shot.

Wheeler led the Lady Punchers in scoring with 12 points. Strong netted 8 points, Runyan 7, Brower 6, Guest 4 and Brandt 2.

Wright

The Lady Panthers outpaced Big Piney, 13-10, in the first quarter. The Lady Puncher defense, with steals by Brower, Wheeler and Strong, kept Wright on its feet.

A layup by Strong in the second quarter placed Big Piney within 2 points of overtaking its opponent. Guest forced two turnovers. Runyan scored a close-range shot and Wheeler made a steal. Runyan went on a 4-point run.

Wright led by a narrow margin, 20-18, at halftime.

The Lady Panther offense pulled out all the stops in the third quarter as the Big Piney defense struggled to keep pace.

The Lady Punchers recovered in the fourth quarter, outpacing Wright, 12-7, though not by enough to close the deficit.

Sophomore Sienna Whiterock tossed in a layup at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Wheeler followed with a close-range shot. Freshman Brylie Bailey scored inside the perimeter. Sophomore Chelsea Wright snagged a steal. Brandt sunk a layup and Bailey went on a 4-point run.

Runyan led Big Piney in scoring with 9 points. Strong, Wheeler and Bailey each scored 6 points with 2 apiece from Brower, Whiterock and Brandt.

Greybull

Big Piney and Greybull battled point for point in the first quarter. Wheeler opened scoring with a close-range shot. Brower and Guest both forced turnovers.

Wright scored a jumper and Guest made a layup. Wheeler scooped up a steal and scored a layup. Wright blocked Greybull’s attempt to score and Runyan broke through the Lady Buffalo defense to score.

The first quarter ended in a tie, 10-10.

Greybull edged ahead to take the lead, 20-19, at halftime.

Big Piney returned from the locker room reenergized and the Lady Punchers overpowered Greybull, 14-6, in the third quarter.

Wheeler tossed in 2 points from the charity stripe. Runyan went on a 4-point run, placing Big Piney ahead, 25-22.

Brower netted a jumper. Guest grabbed a steal and Runyan blocked a shot. Wheeler scored from inside the paint. Strong tossed in a layup and Runyan broke through the perimeter to score.

Maintaining its momentum in the fourth quarter, Big Piney scored 13 points to 9 from Greybull. Runyan, Brower, Guest, Strong and Wheeler each added points to the scorebook.

Wheeler led Big Piney in scoring against Greybull, tallying 14 points. Runyan scored 12, Guest and Brower 6 apiece, Strong 4 with Wright and Bailey contributing 2 each.

The Lady Punchers travel to Kemmerer for the East-West Classic Tournament on Jan. 6-7.