Coming back from a double digit deficit in the second half was not enough for the Powell High School boys’ basketball team, as the Panthers fell to the visiting Worland Warriors 54-53 in overtime on Friday night.

WORLAND 54, POWELL 53 (OT)

Hoping to get on track and secure the regular season sweep over the visitors, the Panthers (13-5 overall, 2-4 3A West) took on the Warriors (8-11 overall, 3-4 3A West).

Powell started slow, as the inside presence of the Warriors gave the visitors a 9-5 lead midway through which eventually stretched out to a 22-12 scoreline after the first quarter.

“Worland came out and made it an emphasis to use their size and get points in the paint. We worked on some zone defensive schemes during the week hoping it would allow us to be in better position against that strategy, and it didn’t work as well as I’d hoped,” coach Mike Heny said. “It was really just that first quarter that we didn’t play our best on the defensive end and we didn’t shoot the ball like we are capable of out of the game in that first half outside of Taeson [Schultz].”

In the second quarter the Panthers had runs that were answered, as Powell cut the lead down to 24-19 midway through and forced a timeout by the visitors, and got it down to one possession on a Nathan Preator steal and layup.

Unfortunately, Worland answered with a 7-0 stretch to end the half and build a 31-21 lead.

Powell continued to trail in the second half, falling behind 40-29 with 3:19 left in the third quarter.

“It always takes more energy to come from behind, but we were only down 11 for our biggest deficit,” Heny said. “I was extremely proud of how the kids stayed in the fight and we actually outscored them in every quarter except the first and overtime.”

The Panthers responded late, going on a 7-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 40-36 heading into the fourth.

A Landon Hyde jumper immediately cut the lead down to a single possession, but the Panthers couldn’t find a tying basket throughout much of the fourth as they continued to trail 43-41 with 4:46 remaining.

“We just couldn’t seem to get in a rhythm on the offensive end and you can credit Worland for doing a good job in really trying to take Taeson out of the game offensively after his big first half,” Heny said. “We just couldn’t get anyone else going and losing Abel [Teten] for the second half certainly made our rotation change.”

Powell continued trailing, until a Schultz free throw tied it at 46 with 1:24 remaining.

Missed free throws plagued both teams throughout the contest, as Worland missed two with a chance to take the lead with 11.5 seconds left giving Powell an opportunity to win.

Schultz’s midrange jumper at the buzzer was off and the two teams went into overtime tied at 46.

Schultz started overtime with a 3-pointer, before Worland responded with eight straight points.

Powell trailed by that scoreline until another Schultz 3-pointer with 39 seconds left.

Worland again had an empty trip at the line, before Kason Sherman was fouled with 10 seconds left.

He went 1-2 at the line, before Worland went 0-2 on the ensuing foul with eight seconds left.

Powell raced up the court, but Hyde’s 3-pointer was off the mark and Powell did not get another shot up as the Panthers fell 54-53.

“The kids just need to stay positive and keep working to improve. In all but one of our losses, we had multiple chances to pull out the win and we feel like we should have won all of those contests,” Heny said. “We took care of the ball on Friday a lot better than the past couple of weeks so that was a positive as well. The only things we can do is learn from what didn’t go well and keep building those habits that will allow us to finish those close games on the right end of the scoreboard.”

Schultz led with 24 points and tied for the team lead alongside Brady Harvey in rebounds with eight.

Preator added 13 points, tied for the team lead in assists with Sherman with three, while Preator led with four steals.

Both Preator and Sherman had a block.

CROWDED CONFERENCE

The Panthers now head out on the road for the final time in the regular season, starting with a trip to Lander (11-7 overall, 3-4 3A west) at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Powell follows that up with a game in Pinedale (11-7 overall, 4-3 3A West) at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

It’s an important weekend for the Panthers in the 3A West standings, as every team outside of Lovell is within two games of each other with the Bulldogs atop the standings by three games over the closest team in Pinedale.

“Every game from here on out is huge as far as the conference standings go,” Heny said. “With everyone log jammed below Lovell, every win will be important to give us the best possible seed going into regionals in two weeks. We’ll treat each of these games this week as must wins, but more importantly we’ll just keep trying to sharpen our strengths and find ways to counter what teams are trying to do to us both offensively and defensively.”

WORLAND 54, POWELL 53 (OT)

Points — Taeson Schultz 24, Nathan Preator 13, Landon Hyde 8, Brady Harvey 4, Kason Sherman 4

Rebounds — Taeson Schultz 8 (2), Brady Harvey 8 (4), Nathan Preator 6 (3), Caden Nelson 3 (1), Landon Hyde 2 (2)

Assists — Nathan Preator 3, Kason Sherman 3, Caden Nelson 2, Landon Hyde 2, Taeson Schultz 1

Steals — Nathan Preator 4, Landon Hyde 2, Caden Nelson 1, Taeson Schultz 1, Abel Teten 1, Kason Sherman 1

Blocks — Nathan Preator 1, Kason Sherman 1