The Powell Panther boys’ basketball team opened the conference season with a difficult pair of losses at home, as the Panthers fell to Cody 69-55 on Thursday and Worland on Friday 64-58.

CODY 69, POWELL 55

Opening up conference action at home the Panthers (9-4 overall, 0-2 3A West) rematched with the rival Broncs (9-4 overall, 2-1 3A West) after defeating them by three a week prior.

Cody came out strong, building an early 12-5 lead as the Panthers struggled to find baskets.

The Broncs kept pressing and made it a double digit game after a 3-pointer with 3:09 left in the first quarter forced a Powell timeout.

Offense came late in the quarter for the Panthers, as they trailed 23-15 heading into the second.

Powell attempted to cut into the lead, but was unable to get it below six, and Cody led 39-30 at the half.

In the second half the Panthers cut into the lead early once again, but were unable to get closer than six as they trailed 45-39 midway through the quarter.

The Broncs pushed their lead out to double digits once again with 2:03 left, but the Panthers got a big 3-pointer from Evan Whitlock just before the end of the quarter as Powell trailed 51-44 going into the fourth.

Powell again cut it down to six early in the fourth quarter before Cody again pushed it back to double digits.

“We continue to try and get better at being more patient on offense at times. We still aren’t executing at a high enough level against the better defensive teams we have been facing these past few games,” coach Mike Heny said. “We struggled shooting the ball from both inside and outside the arc and didn’t find a way to get to the free throw line as often as our opponents. It will be something we need to continue to improve as our schedule isn’t getting any easier.”

The Panthers had the lead down to nine at 59-50 with 3:58 left, but the Broncs pulled away for good in the 69-55 win.

Alex Jordan led the Panthers with 17 points and six rebounds, while Whitlock chipped in 10 as the other Panther in double figures.

Keona Wisniewski had five assists to lead the Panthers.

WORLAND 64, POWELL 58

After the loss on Thursday the Panthers turned around to try rebounding against the Warriors (5-6 overall, 1-1 3A West).

Powell got off to a slow start offensively, not scoring until a Jaxon Hancock putback 2:30 into the game.

That jumpstarted the Panthers the rest of the quarter, as they led 10-5 after the first quarter.

In the second the Panthers expanded their lead to 18-12 after a pair of Dawson Griffin 3-pointers midway through.

Powell clung onto the lead heading into halftime as a layup just before the horn from Worland made it 25-24.

Early on in the third quarter the two teams continually exchanged the lead, as it was tied at 30 midway through the period.

Worland claimed the lead and expanded it as far as 39-32 before Landon Hyde ended the drought on a jumper.

“Worland always plays hard and you have to be ready for their physicality and their ability to draw fouls,” Heny said. “The way the game was being officiated benefited their style and we were never able to adjust and get the stops on defense we needed.”

Powell crawled back but trailed 43-37 heading into the fourth quarter.

Worland pushed its advantage back out as a frustrated Panther team trailed 48-39 with 6:17 left.

The advantage held for the visitors through much of the fourth quarter, until a timeout with 1:49 left by Powell led to one final rally.

Powell scored four straight and brought it to a one possession game, trailing 59-56 with just 1:08 on the clock and forcing a Worland timeout.

Three straight points by the Warriors made it a two possession game and sealed the fate of the Panthers, as Worland held on late for a 64-58 win and sent the Panthers to their third consecutive loss.

“Every time we would make a run in the second half Worland would find a way to get to the free throw line or get an easy bucket,” Heny said. “We just could never get over the hump. The kids are playing extremely hard but we’ve got to be better collectively in controlling what we can and finding ways to make the winning plays now that we are in conference play.”

Jordan led once again with 17 points, while Griffin had 12 points and led with four assists.

Hancock added a 10 point, 12 rebound double-double along with four blocks.

ANOTHER DIFFICULT WEEK

The schedule does not get any easier for the Panthers, as they will host one more quadrant game before heading on the road.

That quadrant game at 7 p.m. on Thursday comes against the top team in the state in the Lovell Bulldogs (13-0 overall, 2-0 3A West).

Powell then heads on the road to take on the Buffalo Bison (8-3 overall, 3-1 3A East) at 7 p.m. on Friday.

“A lot of things will need to be looked at in order for us to find our identity once again,” Heny said. “We’ll need to look at other ways we can defend in the half court to give us a better chance to slow teams down and make them take more difficult shots. After looking at film, there are a lot of positives and we can certainly clean a lot of things up, so we need to stay positive and keep looking to improve every day in practice and try to put a couple of complete games together this week.”

That will start a three-week-long road trip for the Panthers, who will not return until Feb. 21-22 for their final home games of the season.

CODY 69, POWELL 55

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Alex Jordan 17, Evan Whitlock 10, Dawson Griffin 9, Jaxon Hancock 7, Keona Wisniewski 6, Taeson Schultz 5, Nathan Preator 1

Rebounds — Alex Jordan 6, Jaxon Hancock 5 (2), Keona Wisniewski 4 (1), Nathan Preator 3 (2), Taeson Schultz 2 (1), Evan Whitlock 2, Dawson Griffin 2, Abel Teten 1

Assists — Keona Wisniewski 5, Evan Whitlock 4, Alex Jordan 2, Nathan Preator 1, Dawson Griffin 1

Steals — Keona Wisniewski 2, Jaxon Hancock 2, Alex Jordan 2, Dawson Griffin 1

Blocks — Evan Whitlock 1

WORLAND 64, POWELL 58

Points — Alex Jordan 17, Dawson Griffin 12, Jaxon Hancock 10, Keona Wisniewski 8, Evan Whitlock 4, Nathan Preator 3, Taeson Schultz 2, Landon Hyde 2

Rebounds — Jaxon Hancock 12 (6), Keona Wisniewski 8, Alex Jordan 4 (3), Taeson Schultz 2, Evan Whitlock 2 (2), Dawson Griffin 2 (1), Nathan Preator 1, Landon Hyde 1 (1)

Assists — Dawson Griffin 4, Nathan Preator 3, Evan Whitlock 3, Keona Wisniewski 3, Alex Jordan 3, Jaxon Hancock 1

Steals — Nathan Preator 1, Evan Whitlock 1, Keona Wisniewski 1, Alex Jordan 1

Blocks — Jaxon Hancock 4