It wasn’t easy, but the Powell Panther boys’ basketball team rebounded from a road loss to Worland, defeating Lovell 44-28 and Cody 51-41 on Thursday and Friday.

POWELL 44, LOVELL 28

The No. 4-ranked Panthers (8-4 overall, 2-1 3A Northwest) reached a key matchup early in the 3A Northwest season, squaring off with the Lovell Bulldogs (5-7 overall, 0-2 3A Northwest).

Early on both teams struggled to score on both ends of the floor, with Brock Johnson leading the way — scoring eight of the Panthers’ first 10 points to give Powell a 10-4 lead after the first quarter.

The Panthers continued to maintain a strong defensive presence despite struggling on the offensive end, holding a 19-14 lead at the half.

“The kids worked really hard during practice last week during our defensive drills,” coach Mike Heny said. “We knew we weren’t at our best on that end in the Thermopolis and Worland games and we needed to improve going forward.”

In the second half Lovell quickly cut the lead down to a point, before Marshall Lewis hit a jump shot to extend the lead back out to three with 4:20 left in the third quarter.

Powell continued to hold onto the lead, and extended it to six going into the fourth quarter after an Alex Jordan layup in the final minute.

The Panthers quickly extended the lead out to double-digits in the fourth quarter behind aggressive defense leading to easy baskets for Johnson, allowing Powell to breathe comfortably in the end with a 44-28 victory.

“Brock and Gunnar [Erickson] are our leading scorers and it’s always important that they stay aggressive even though our shots aren’t falling,” Heny said. “[Johnson] did a great job on the defensive end and was able to come up with big steals and drives to the basket. His ability to affect the game on both ends is crucial to our success as a team.”

Johnson finished with 17 points, five steals, four rebounds and three assists to lead the Panthers. Trey Stenerson finished with eight points and 10 rebounds including five offensive boards in the victory.

The Bulldogs had their game against Thermopolis postponed on Saturday due to inclement weather across Wyoming.

POWELL 51, CODY 41

After grinding out a victory on Thursday, the Panthers attention turned to the rival Cody Broncs (4-7 overall, 1-2 4A Northwest) with the hopes of completing the season sweep at home.

The teams competed early, remaining tied midway through the quarter at eight as Erickson scored six of the Panther’s first eight points in the game.

Cade Queen contributed a late 3-pointer in the quarter and a 3-pointer by Johnson at the buzzer made it a 14-13 lead for the Panthers after one.

Powell’s struggles came at the free throw line in the first half, but Stenerson scored all nine of his points before halftime to help the Panthers hold a 27-22 lead at the half.

A quick run out of the gates gave Cody the lead at 30-29, and Powell did not regain the lead until a Queen layup with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter made it 34-32.

The Panthers pushed the lead out to four heading into the fourth.

Despite being undersized compared to the length of the Broncs, the Panthers took charges down low to get several Cody players in foul trouble.

“The kids did an outstanding job understanding the strengths of each player and we were able to get some key stops,” Heny said. “Cody’s length is hard to deal with but I thought our kids really battled all night on both ends overcoming some of the matchup advantages they had.”

In the fourth the Panthers continued to maintain a two possession lead until Cody cut it to one and a blood timeout on the court forced the game to a standstill with 3:07 remaining.

A 3-pointer by Erickson with 2:30 left made it a four point game, and the Panthers sealed the game late on fast breaks by Johnson and Jhett Schwahn to help make the final score 51-41.

Erickson finished with 16 for the Panthers alongside six steals, while Johnson finished with 12 points and four assists for Powell.

SOUTHWEST OPPONENTS

Powell will host a pair of familiar opponents from the 3A Southwest this weekend, welcoming the No. 3-ranked Lander Tigers (9-5 overall, 2-1 3A Southwest) on Friday night at 6 p.m.

That matchup will be the third between the two teams this season, with each team winning on the road in the series.

“We will work on a few zone options this week in order to improve our ball movement and spacing against Lander’s zone,” Heny said. “In our last matchup we didn’t do a great job stopping dribble penetration and we allowed their best shooters to get some wide open looks. Down the stretch, Lander made more plays than we did and we weren’t able to hold on to the lead in the last part of the fourth quarter.”

On Saturday the Panthers will welcome the No. 5-ranked Pinedale Wranglers (8-7 overall, 2-1 3A Southwest) to town at 1 p.m.

Pinedale defeated Powell on the opening weekend of the season in double overtime, and Heny said that the Wranglers match up well with the Panthers heading into their second matchup.

“Our first Pinedale game seems like a long time ago now,” Heny said. “Pinedale has been playing extremely well this season and they match up with us really well. We’re going to have to make sure we contain their shooters and force them to take tough shots.”

POWELL 44, LOVELL 28

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Brock Johnson 17, Trey Stenerson 8, Gunnar Erickson 7, Marshall Lewis 6, Jhett Schwahn 4, Alex Jordan 2

Rebounds — Trey Stenerson 10 (5), Gunnar Erickson 8 (2), Marshall Lewis 5, Alex Jordan 5 (4), Brock Johnson 4 (2), Jhett Schwahn 4, Cade Queen 3

Assists — Marshall Lewis 3, Brock Johnson 3, Gunnar Erickson 2, Trey Stenerson 1, Jhett Schwahn 1, Alex Jordan 1

Steals — Brock Johnson 5, Cade Queen 2, Gunnar Erickson 1

POWELL 51, CODY 41

Points — Gunnar Erickson 16, Brock Johnson 12, Trey Stenerson 9, Cade Queen 5, Marshall Lewis 4, Alex Jordan 3, Jhett Schwahn 2

Rebounds — Marshall Lewis 6 (1), Gunnar Erickson 5 (3), Brock Johnson 4, Trey Stenerson 4 (2), Cade Queen 4 (3), Jhett Schwahn 3 (1), Alex Jordan 1

Assists — Brock Johnson 4, Jhett Schwahn 3, Gunnar Erickson 1

Steals — Gunnar Erickson 6, Trey Stenerson 4, Brock Johnson 3, Marshall Lewis 1

Blocks — Marshall Lewis 1