In two very different games, the Powell High School boys’ basketball team finished on the wrong end of the scoreboard Thursday losing to Lovell 68-37 on the road, before rebounding for a 69-56 win over Buffalo at home Friday.

LOVELL 68, POWELL 37

Playing their third road game in conference play the Panthers (12-3 overall, 1-2 3A West) took on the Bulldogs (13-2 overall, 3-0 3A West).

Powell started strong, up 5-0, before the Bulldogs took over and held a 10-7 lead midway through.

That lead grew to 14-7, and the Bulldogs started forcing turnovers en route to a 23-12 lead after the first quarter.

In the second the hosts quickly pushed it over 20, leading 34-12 less than three minutes in, as the Bulldogs maintained that lead 40-19 at the half.

The lead hovered in the 20s for much of the third, until the Bulldogs eventually pushed it over 30 and made it a 57-25 game heading into the fourth.

Lovell pulled away for the 68-37 win.

“There are some things we did well on Thursday and a number of things that we didn’t. We’ll need to work together to determine where we can be more effective offensively and what we need to do differently on defense to limit some of their strengths,” coach Mike Heny said. “Lovell really has some tough matchups for us with their two big kids and their guards are really quick.”

Nathan Preator led with 11 points, Caden Nelson had five rebounds and three steals, and Taeson Schultz and Landon Hyde had three assists each. Nelson and Hyde each had a block.

POWELL 69, BUFFALO 56

Looking to rebound on Friday the Panthers welcomed in the Bison (7-6 overall, 3-1 3A East) for a nonconference matchup.

Powell started strong, as Preator had seven and Nelson had four to lead 11-2 midway through the first.

The Panthers continued to push early, leading 18-9 after the first.

In the second the Panthers maintained that lead 22-13 midway through the quarter, while the Bison cut the lead slightly to make it 30-23 at the half.

Powell burst out the gate in the second half, pushing it to 43-26 just two minutes in.

Strong plays by Preator and Abel Teten helped make it a 54-32 contest with 2:49 left in the third and force a timeout from the visitors, as Powell led 62-39 heading into the fourth.

“I asked the kids to be really focused for the first two or three minutes of the third quarter to counter anything Buffalo was going to try and do coming out of the break,” Heny said. “All the credit goes to the kids as they played at an extremely high level on both ends of the floor. It was fun to watch them get after Buffalo on the defensive end and convert all of those steals into transition buckets. Any time you score over 30 points in a quarter, you’ve got things rolling at a high level.”

The 32 points in the third were just a point behind the school record for points in a quarter.

The lead hovered in the 20s much of the fourth, before late turnovers allowed Buffalo to cut into the final scoreline 69-56.

“The kids got really tired by the time the fourth quarter rolled around. They played so fast in the third quarter and coming off a tough game against Lovell the night before; the kids just ran out of gas,” Heny said. “When you get tired physically, it’s tough to maintain the mental edge as well.”

Preator led with 26 points, Schultz added 14 pounds and 12 rebounds for a double-double, Teten had 14 points and Nelson had 10.

Preator led with five assists, Schultz led with five steals while Nelson and Schultz had two blocks each.

IMPORTANT WEEKEND

The Panthers remain at home for a couple of important games in the 3A West standings, welcoming in Mountain View (6-7 overall, 1-2 3A West) at 7 p.m. on Friday and Lyman (9-4 overall, 2-1 3A West) at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“Lyman and Mountain View are both scrappy teams and it will be important for us to try and get both of these cross-conference wins if we can,” Heny said. “We actually match up pretty well size-wise, so we’ll just need to make sure we take care of the ball and defend at a high level to give ourselves a chance to get a couple of key home conference wins.”

LOVELL 68, POWELL 37

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Nathan Preator 11, Caden Nelson 8, Landon Hyde 6, Abel Teten 6, Brady Harvey 4, Taeson Schultz 2

Rebounds — Caden Nelson 5 (1), Nathan Preator 4 (2), Taeson Schultz 4 (1), Landon Hyde 3 (2), Brady Harvey 2, Eli Dallman 2, Kason Sherman 1 (1)

Assists — Taeson Schultz 3, Landon Hyde 3, Nathan Preator 1, Brady Harvey 1, Kason Sherman 1, Eli Dallman 1

Steals — Caden Nelson 3, Taeson Schultz 2, Cody Fisher 1, Sawyer Wormald 1

Blocks — Caden Nelson 1, Landon Hyde 1

POWELL 69, BUFFALO 56

Points — Nathan Preator 26, Taeson Schultz 14, Abel Teten 14, Caden Nelson 10, Landon Hyde 4, Brady Harvey 1

Rebounds — Taeson Schultz 12, Nathan Preator 7 (4), Caden Nelson 7 (3), Brady Harvey 6 (1), Landon Hyde 5 (2), Abel Teten 1 (1), Kason Sherman 1, Eli Dallman 1

Assists — Nathan Preator 5, Taeson Schultz 4, Abel Teten 4, Caden Nelson 2, Landon Hyde 2, Brady Harvey 2

Steals — Taeson Schultz 5, Nathan Preator 3, Caden Nelson 3, Landon Hyde 1

Blocks — Caden Nelson 2, Taeson Schultz 2, Nathan Preator 1, Brady Harvey 1