Friday win loses its luster after Saturday blowout

The Powell High School boys basketball team left Panther Gym on Friday with a much-needed win.

On Saturday, the Panthers appeared in need of a return to their home gym — for more practice.

Less than 24 hours after stunning Worland with a last-second shot and a 58-56 victory, PHS forgot to bring its momentum to Douglas as the No. 3-ranked Bearcats drubbed the Panthers 68-46.

PHS is now 5-5 this season after starting 1-4. The Panthers had strung four wins together after capturing the Big Horn Basin Classic title in Worland on Jan. 9-10, but will now need to regroup ahead of a 3A Northwest Conference road trip to Lovell at 7:30 p.m. Friday. PHS will then host Lander Valley in conference action at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Powell 58, Worland 56

With Worland trying to sink PHS at home, the Panthers turned to a trio of heroes to save them — the last of whom sealed the PHS victory.

The game ended in shocking fashion when, with the scored knotted at 56, Kalei Smith fired an air ball that landed in the hands of junior Kristian Stenlund right under the basket.

In bang-bang fashion, Stenlund fired a layup at seemingly the exact same time the buzzer sounded. The ball found the net, and after a brief discussion by the referees, Stenlund’s bucket counted and PHS erupted in celebration.

“I honestly didn’t think they were going to count it. I wasn’t sure why everyone was cheering,” Stenlund said of the referees’ decision. “But they went to discuss it and they counted it ... I’ll take that I guess.”

Before Stenlund’s dramatics, PHS needed helped from two of its more consistent weapons.

WHS junior Hoyt Nicholas (23 points) drained 11 in the opening period as the Warriors poured 26 points on the PHS defense. But keeping the Panthers afloat was senior Carter Baxter, who scored all 12 of his team’s points in the frame as his teammates, including Smith, struggled to get going.

“In the first quarter, we were kind of lackadaisical,” Baxter said. “I was just trying to get everyone motivated by being vocal and by trying to push them by leading by example.”

After providing his team with a spark, Baxter (21 total points and 15 rebounds) gave way to Smith, who fueled a 10-0 run to start the second quarter with seven straight points. The senior started the period with a free throw, and after a Baxter putback, Smith sank a 3-pointer, two free throws and a driving layup to pull his team within 26-22.

An 11-9 finish by the Warriors gave them a 37-31 halftime lead, but Smith believed Baxter’s hot start and a shift in momentum opened a window for the hosts.

“[Baxter’s first quarter] was huge. He stepped up and did what he needed to do to keep the team in the game,” said Smith, who matched Baxter with 21 points. “Then, we eventually started helping him.”

Smith started another PHS run, this time to open the second half, with a layup. Shortly after, he picked up his third foul and sat out the remainder of the third quarter.

But senior Zach Heny stole the ball and hit a layup before Jacob Gallagher tied things at 37 with a Smith-assisted layup to finish the 6-0 spurt. The Warriors closed the frame on a 12-7 run, but PHS caught fire again to start the fourth quarter.

“The guys stayed patient and really picked things up in the fourth,” PHS head coach Chase Kistler said. “We took a little longer to get going than I would have liked, but once we seized some momentum we kept it.”

Smith returned in the fourth and again got his team going with a free throw. He then assisted Stenlund and Baxter layups that tied the game at 49 with 5:31 remaining. Smith’s two free throws gave the Panthers their first lead at 51-49 32 seconds later, and his dunk made it a four-point advantage seconds later. The two teams exchanged baskets until Baxter knocked down the back end of two free throws to make it 56-54 PHS with 38 seconds to play.

Chad Cross nearly saved the Warriors with a jumper with 16 seconds to go, but Smith fired up his desperation shot several feet beyond the arc and Stenlund was there to save the day.

“That was pretty cool, it felt awesome,” Stenlund said of his game winner, and added about the Douglas game: “I wouldn’t look at [Saturday’s] game as a challenge but as an opportunity.”

Douglas 68, Powell 46

Opportunity went out the window for the Panthers as Douglas showed the visitors just how much of a challenge they can be.

“It just started out as one of those games where we were playing with them at first, but then we started missing shots,” Kistler said Sunday. “Then the lead grew to 12 or 15 and the landslide just started.”

PHS enjoyed a seconds-long lead against the Bearcats thanks to Matt Sweet’s floater that started the Panther scoring. The senior was fouled on the play and converted the ensuing free throw to give his squad a 3-2 lead. DHS then proceeded to reel off a 17-7 run for a 19-10 cushion that ended the first quarter, and PHS never recovered.

Unlike Friday, Smith and Baxter were unable to bail the Panthers out of their early hole, and a lack of other scoring options left Kistler with an understandable analysis. Asked if leaning on Smith and Baxter to carry the team is efficient for his team’s offense, Kistler was frank.

“No, it’s not,” he said. “We can rely on them to hit big shots and make big plays, but we’ve got to start having some more consistent play, not just out of our other starters but our bench too.”

Smith and Baxter scored two points each in the first quarter, and despite six from Smith in the second, Douglas buried PHS into a 37-17 hole at the break. Eric Jamerman (nine first-half points and 16 for the game) sparked Douglas’ dominance in the first two quarters while Mark Vandeventer and Ty Larson chipped in seven each.

Larson finished with 15 and Vandeventer ended with 10. Smith led the Panthers with 15 and Baxter collected nine. Sophomore T.J. Abraham finished with six, all in the third period.

PHS suffered a blow in the second quarter when Baxter was caught mumbling something under his breath that a referee didn’t like. Baxter was tagged with a technical foul and was benched to end the first half before sitting out the entire third frame as DHS extended its lead to 56-31.

“That was just one of those frustration things,” Kistler said of the foul.

He said he was happy to get on the bus and head home after the blowout loss, but didn’t shy away from giving Douglas credit.

“By far, that’s probably the most balanced team I’ve seen all season,” Kistler said. “They’re on fire right now. They have a lot of depth too, I have to give them a lot of credit. They’re eight to 10 deep and they don’t really lose a step with anyone.”