A competitive field on a difficult course in Cody along with some missing pieces led to a challenging week, as the Powell High School golf team hit the midway point of the season.

Leading the way for the Panther girls was Emery Hernandez, who took fifth overall, shooting rounds of 95 and 86.

“She is starting to work into form here in the middle of the season and I expect her to keep trending in that direction,” coach Troy Hildebrand said.

Ali Scott took 14th for the Panthers, finishing with rounds of 112 and 95.

“Ali had gone through three rounds where she was really struggling with her swing and scoring so having her bounce back on Friday and kind of find her groove again with the 95 was a great sign for both her and our team,” Hildebrand said.

Grace Gordon was the third in the clubhouse for the Panthers, as she put together her best tournament rounds to shoot 116 and 115 and tie for 25th.

“These are Grace’s best tournament rounds to date and to shoot those on a tough course that she had never played before was a great accomplishment for her,” Hildebrand said. “Having her working towards 110 at this point is exactly what we need as a team.”

Maddie Croft was the fourth Panther golfer, as she shot rounds of 123 and 119 to take 29th.

“Maddie continued her consistent play and with her experience she is looking for places to cut off 3-5 strokes on each side that will put her right back down around 105 where she ended last year,” Hildebrand said.

Hadley Gutierrez was one stroke and one place behind Croft, as she shot rounds of 120 and 123.

“I was very pleased with Hadley’s performance this week as she had never played the Cody course and she handled herself nicely in both rounds,” Hildebrand said. “Over these next three weeks we’ll try to clean up some things from inside 100 yards and see if Hadley can start shooting under 115 consistently by state.”

As a team the Panther girls were fourth with scores of 323 and 296.

Cody won on its home course with scores of 267 and 274, while Buffalo’s Addie Bettinger won with rounds of 92 and 83.

On the boys’ side the Panthers were once again led by Cody Fisher, who secured another top 10 finish with a tie for eighth place shooting rounds of 78 and 79.

“Cody continued his solid play from this season with two more rounds in the 70s,” Hildebrand said. “He’s making a ton of pars and is doing a great job of bouncing back from a tough hole or stretch of holes.”

Two Panther competitors, Xander Clark, who had a prior commitment, as well as Park Harvison, who withdrew after eight holes due to illness, were unable to complete the tournament this week.

That meant second in the clubhouse was Ryder Stewart who shot rounds of 88 and 94 to take 36th.

“Ryder shot a career tournament best on Thursday with his 88,” Hildebrand said. “It took him a couple of weeks to get settled back into golf after baseball season but he had shown some signs of playing good golf over the past few practices so it was nice to see him put together a solid tournament.”

Kason Sherman finished just behind in 37th with rounds of 93 and 92.

“He is hitting plenty of good shots, and just needs a couple of rounds where he avoids trouble to give his confidence that next boost,” Hildebrand said.

Tucker Muecke tied for 47th with rounds of 102 and 92.

“Tucker had a bad start on Thursday but after that opening nine holes he settled down and played much more like he is accustomed to playing. I won’t be surprised if he doesn’t work his way into the 80s by the end of the year,” Hildebrand said.

Kenny Parker Jr. finished in 56th for the Panthers with rounds of 100 and 103.

“I thought he did a good job of hanging in there both days and he is certainly getting great experience for the future,” Hildebrand said.

Huston Dearcorn rounded out the Panther lineup as he took 75th with rounds of 131 and 114.

“Huston has had two great weeks at practice and earned our final spot in Cody,” Hildebrand said. “He is still gaining tournament experience and will only get better moving forward.”

As a team the Panthers were eighth with rounds of 361 and 357, as Riverton took both the team and individual titles with rounds of 306 and 305 as Cade Kisling shot 74 and 70 to take the top spot.

Powell heads on the road to Lander for the final regular season tournament, with rounds starting at 10 a.m. on Thursday and 9 a.m. on Friday.

The Panthers head back on the road quickly, as they head to the conference tournament hosted by Lyman in Evanston on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“A lot of important golf over a short stretch for us as we try to finalize the boys’ state team and hopefully have a few players earn All-Conference honors,” Hildebrand said.