PHS boys second in Big Horn Basin Classic

Posted 1/21/25

Remaining at home and competing in the Big Horn Basin Classic, the Powell Panther boys’ basketball team rolled through Friday, defeating Burlington 82-40 and Glenrock 88-45, before squeezing …

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PHS boys second in Big Horn Basin Classic

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Remaining at home and competing in the Big Horn Basin Classic, the Powell Panther boys’ basketball team rolled through Friday, defeating Burlington 82-40 and Glenrock 88-45, before squeezing past Cody 63-60 and losing to Lovell 74-38 in the championship game to finish second.

    

POWELL 82, BURLINGTON 40

Kicking off the home weekend the Panthers (9-2) took on the 1A Huskies (6-7 overall, 2-0 1A Northwest) on Friday afternoon.

Powell jumped out to a quick lead, making it 10-0 early before the Huskies worked their way back into the contest.

Burlington cut the lead down to 14-8 with three minutes left in the quarter, and the Panthers held a 22-14 lead heading into the second.

Powell quickly pushed the lead back to double digits in the second quarter, and eventually pushed it to 20 after a hustle play by Keona Wisniewski made it 34-14 with 4:35 remaining.

The Panthers ended the half strong, when an Abel Teten layup made it
48-21 at the break.

Powell ran away with the game in the third, making it 73-36 going into the fourth, and a running clock in the final quarter saw the game finish with an 82-40 scoreline.

“We just wanted to come out and execute at a high level for each game this weekend, regardless of who the opponent was,” coach Mike Heny said. “It’s always nice to get some extra minutes for the kids who won’t play as much, but the focus remains on playing consistently for four quarters and not worrying about the score.”

     

POWELL 88, GLENROCK 45

Getting a look at a 3A East opponent the Panthers matched up with the Herders (6-5 overall, 0-1 3A East).

Powell again got off to a quick start in the contest, leading 11-0 at the midway point and forcing a timeout from the visitors.

The lead reached 13 before Glenrock scored, and the Panthers maintained the double digit lead at the end of the first quarter up 22-8 after a late pair of Alex Jordan free throws.

In the second quarter the Panthers started just as strong as the first, pushing the lead over 20 just under two minutes into the contest after a Dawson Griffin jumper made it 31-10.

Powell pushed its lead to 30 just before the break on a pair of Teten free throws, leading 45-15, and the Panthers extended it further, leading 51-17 at the break.

The lead extended over 40 in the third period and the Panthers rolled to an 88-45 win to advance to the semifinal Saturday.

“It’s always nice to see the teams from the east since we don’t have a lot of games against them during the course of a season,” Heny said. “We have been fortunate to play more east opponents this season with the two opening tournaments that will allow us to gauge the competition a little better once we get into the postseason for sure.”

   

POWELL 63, CODY 60

The two wins Friday meant the Panthers took on the Broncs (7-4 overall, 0-1 3A West) in the first edition of their rivalry game this season.

Powell started out on fire, building a double digit lead behind three 3-pointers by Wisniewski to make it 16-5 with 2:30 left in the first quarter.

Wisniewski kept his scoring going, and the Panthers led 24-12 after the first.

After the strong start the Panthers went cold in the second, as Cody quickly rallied and made it a 28-27 contest with 3:19 left in the second and forced a Powell timeout.

Cody kept pressing and built a lead at the break, as the Broncs held a 38-33 lead heading into the locker room.

“The first half of the Cody game was one of the more interesting games I’ve ever been a part of. We came out extremely hot on offense and were able to build the 12 point lead after the first quarter. Cody flipped the script on us in the second and we went from up 12 to down five heading into the break. We got away from what was going well on both ends in the second quarter and didn’t execute very well,” Heny said.

Powell got its groove back in the third quarter, tying the game on a Jordan 3-pointer midway through the frame.

Taeson Schultz eventually gave Powell the lead back, when his 3-pointer with just over two minutes left put Powell up 47-46.

Powell held that one point lead heading into the fourth quarter up 49-48.

Cody reclaimed the lead early in the fourth quarter, before a Wisniewski 3-pointer and an and-one by Nathan Preator made it 57-54.

Powell held its lead at 59-58 late, and despite a timeout with 1:37 left both teams panicked down the stretch.

Turnovers by both teams led to the same scoreline with 42 seconds left, before Jordan eventually made a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left to make it 61-58.

Cody missed a 3-pointer, and Teten made two free throws late to secure the win as a Cody layup at the buzzer made the final score 63-60.

“It was a great team effort for us and a good win heading into our rematch against them this week,” Heny said. “Every game against them will be a battle and we’ll have to be at our best on Thursday if we want to give ourselves another shot at beating them.”

    

LOVELL 74, POWELL 38

Winning the semifinal earned the Panthers a matchup with the Bulldogs (12-0 overall, 1-0 3A West) in the championship game.

Powell started out scoring the first four points, before Lovell took charge of the contest.

Lovell took a 14-4 lead, forcing a Powell timeout with 2:55 left.

The Bulldogs kept pressing, making it 19-7 after the first quarter before blowing open the contest in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs opened the second with an 11-0 run over the first two minutes, as they ended up outscoring the Panthers 26-7 in the second quarter to make it a 45-14 lead at the half.

“Lovell came out and dictated the pace and style of play from the very beginning,” Heny said. “They imposed their will in every facet and we weren’t able to provide a response to slow them down. They shot the ball extremely well and were getting easy buckets in transition.”

In the second half the Panthers scored better, but still trailed 49-25 in the third.

Powell did not get any closer, as the Bulldogs pushed their lead to 54-25 after the third.

In the fourth the Bulldogs pulled further ahead, and the two teams emptied their benches late as the Bulldogs finished with a 74-38 win.

“Give all the credit to Lovell, they dominated us and you could tell they were more ready and focused than we were,” Heny said. “They had a bigger crowd and once they got rolling they fed off that energy to put us away early.”

   

CONFERENCE STARTS

Powell will stay at home this week, continuing its homestand with the first two games of conference play.

The Panthers start with a difficult matchup against the Broncs in a rematch of the semifinal at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

That game will be followed by a home game against the Worland Warriors (4-5) at 7 p.m. on Friday.

“Our quad is really, really tough and we will focus on just trying to get better the first part of the week so we are prepared to try and defend our home court,” Heny said. “It will be important to make a few adjustments against Cody as well as prepare for a well coached and tough Worland squad.”

    

POWELL 82, BURLINGTON 40

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Alex Jordan 19, Evan Whitlock 12, Keona Wisniewski 11, Abel Teten 9, Jaxon Hancock 8, Dawson Griffin 8, Nathan Preator 7, Taeson Schultz 6, Landon Hyde 2

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

Assists — Keona Wisniewski 6, Dawson Griffin 5, Nathan Preator 4, Taeson Schultz 2, Evan Whitlock 2, Alex Jordan 2, Abel Teten 1

Steals — Nathan Preator 4, Alex Jordan 3, Dawson Grifin 2, Evan Whitlock 1, Abel Teten 1, Keona Wisniewski 1

Blocks — Jaxon Hancock 3, Alex Jordan 1

    

POWELL 88, GLENROCK 45

Points — Alex Jordan 22, Keona Wisniewski 19, Nathan Preator 11, Abel Teten 10, Dawson Griffin 9, Taeson Schultz 7, Jaxon Hancock 6, Evan Whitlock 2, Brady Harvey 2

Rebounds — Jaxon Hancock 10 (7), Alex Jordan 10 (5), Keona Wisniewski 5 (1), Taeson Schultz 4, Dawson Griffin 3 (2), Nathan Preator 2, Evan Whitlock 2 (1), Abel Teten 2 (1), Landon Hyde 1, Brady Harvey 1

Assists — Taeson Schultz 3, Keona Wisniewski 3, Dawson Griffin 3, Nathan Preator 2, Abel Teten 2, Jaxon Hancock 2, Evan Whitlock 1, Alex Jordan 1, Brady Harvey 1

Steals — Keona Wisniewski 4, Nathan Preator 2, Evan Whitlock 2, Dawson Griffin 2, Taeson Schultz 1, Jaxon Hancock 1, Alex Jordan 1

Blocks — Keona Wisniewski 2, Jaxon Hancock 1, Dawson Griffin 1

    

POWELL 63, CODY 60

Points — Alex Jordan 17, Keona Wisniewski 14, Jaxon Hancock 9, Nathan Preator 8, Taeson Schultz 8, Evan Whitlock 3, Abel Teten 2, Dawson Griffin 2

Rebounds — Jaxon Hancock 8 (2), Alex Jordan 5 (1), Keona Wisniewski 3, Nathan Preator 2 (1), Taeson Schultz 2 (2), Evan Whitlock 2 (1), Abel Teten 1, Dawson Griffin 1

Assists — Evan Whitlock 4, Dawson Griffin 4, Keona Wisniewski 2, Taeson Schultz 1, Alex Jordan 1

Steals — Keona Wisniewski 2, Nathan Preator 1, Jaxon Hancock 1, Alex Jordan 1

Blocks — Jaxon Hancock 1

    

LOVELL 74, POWELL 38

Points — Evan Whitlock 11, Alex Jordan 8, Nathan Preator 7, Taeson Schultz 3, Keona Wisniewski 3, Jaxon Hancock 3, Dawson Griffin 3

Rebounds — Jaxon Hancock 8 (3), Taeson Schultz 5 (1), Keona Wisniewski 4, Alex Jordan 4 (1), Nathan Preator 3 (1)

Assists — Alex Jordan 3, Nathan Preator 1, Taeson Schultz 1, Evan Whitlock 1, Abel Teten 1, Keona Wisniewksi 1, Jaxon Hancock 1, Dawson Griffin 1

Steals — Alex Jordan 2, Keona Wisniewski 1

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