Coming off a weekend loss to Rocky Mountain, the Powell High School boys’ basketball team will look to quickly put the game in the rearview mirror.

“These kids are a confident group and understand that it’s only one game and doesn’t reflect on their overall ability as a team,” said PHS head coach Mike Heny said. “We didn’t come out with a lot of energy and we didn’t execute very well so we’ll just chalk it up as a bad night across the board and look forward and not back.”

In their first loss of the season, the Panthers were unable to find an offensive rhythm on Saturday, scoring just eight points in the first half. Though PHS found slightly more of an offensive groove in the second half, it wasn’t enough, as Rocky Mountain won 55-30.

With a three-week break preceding the contest, Heny thinks rust may have played a factor in the outcome.

“It’s difficult to have a full three weeks off and come out really sharp,” he said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to ever really get going on either end of the floor so the slow start simply carried through the rest of the game.”

Heny also said the team’s inefficiency on the defensive end played a major role in not having a rhythm offensively.

“Our lack of defensive awareness made things easy for Rocky for the majority of the game,” the coach said. “We weren’t locked in on that end and we ended up giving up way too many easy layups and wide open shots. Our inability to put any pressure on their defense was the biggest factor in not being able to sustain any runs.”

Jaden Marchant was Powell’s leading scorer, with eight points. Mason Marchant and Trevor Groves added six and five points, respectively, to the effort.

The Panthers will get the chance to bounce back on Friday, when they host Shoshoni at 7 p.m.