Panthers make strides during 0-2 weekend

The end result has yet to reflect it, but Powell High School head coach Chase Kistler believes his team is on the track to success.

For now, that success is measured through incremental improvement, which Kistler saw during an 0-2 weekend for the Panther boys basketball team.

The Panthers lost 61-42 in Lovell on Friday and 61-50 to Lander at home on Saturday as they fell to 1-10 overall and 0-2 in the Class 3A Northwest division. 

Kistler said Saturday’s loss was the best Powell has looked since a four-point loss in Buffalo on Dec. 18.

“We actually looked like things were kind of clicking,” he said. “They were starting to understand what we need to do. The kids coming in off the bench were ready to go and knew exactly what to do. It wasn’t perfect by any means but I thought it was definitely a big step forward.”

Powell got out to a fast start and trailed by just one point, 31-30, at the half. Turnovers and another cold-shooting third quarter, during which the Panthers were outscored 20-8, put Lander (5-8, 2-0 in conference) in front, but Kistler said it was perhaps the most complete game he’s seen Powell play.

The Panthers’ 50-point output was their most since the second game of the season, when they scored 57 in a loss to Rawlins.

“It’s just them finally getting enough game-time experience,” Kistler said. “They understand the tempo it has to be at, the speed.”

The heavy roster turnover Powell experienced set the offense back at the season’s start, but the team’s chemistry is improving as the Panthers play more minutes together.

“This is the first year they’ve played with each other. They’re starting to figure each other out, especially on offense,” Kistler said. “I’ve seen more tactics being used. They’re being more of basketball players than I’ve seen.”

Freshman Carson Heinen led the Panthers with 16 points against the Tigers. Kristian Stenlund added 13 during another strong weekend outing. The senior guard scored 15 points against Lovell and grabbed a total of 15 rebounds across both games.

The duo, one at each end of their high school careers, complemented each other, especially at home.

“I didn’t want to tell our guys, ‘Hey we’re going to be post offense.’ But I emphasized our offense has to run through our post,” Kistler said. “When you work the inside-out game, that’s when you’re going to get open.

“(Heinen) started off with two points, that really helps his confidence. (The Tigers) have to double down on him and that opens up Stenlund and (Kaden) Moore on the wings.”

After Powell took an early 7-5 lead, Lander went on an 8-0 run to jump ahead during a back-and-forth first half.

A three-point play from Stenlund snapped Lander’s run, and his drive on Powell’s next possession cut the Tiger lead to 13-12 after the first quarter.

Stenlund scored the first points of the second quarter to reclaim the lead for Powell, and a layup plus a free throw from sophomore Zach Meredith put the Panthers up 17-15.

Powell extended its lead to a game-high nine points after Meredith hit both ends of a one-and-one, Stenlund made a 3-pointer and Heinen scored on a feed from senior Sean Wagner to go up 28-19.

The Tigers, with the help of a trio of PHS turnovers, went on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 28-28.

Meredith made two more free throws after being fouled on a rebound with 1:46 left in the half, but a Lander free throw followed by a drive gave the Tigers the one-point edge going into the break.

The Panthers looked like they were going to buck their trend of slow third quarters when Heinen started the second half with a baseline jumper to put Powell back on top, 32-31. 

But a 10-0 Tigers run would follow, and Powell fell behind by as much as 16 points (50-34) before they chipped away at the Lander lead.

Moore’s 3-pointer with 2:18 remaining pulled the Panthers back within 10 (57-47), and a T.J. Abraham free throw briefly made it a single-digit deficit, but the third quarter was just too much to atone.

Sophomores Jace Smith and Meredith saw increased roles over the weekend.

Smith, who provides long-range scoring off the bench came in against Lander with Abraham in foul trouble and Powell needing to score in a hurry.

“He’s working hard and he’s doing what he needs to get better,” Kistler said. “T.J. had foul trouble and I needed a scorer in there — a guy that could shoot.”

Meredith’s nine points and eight rebounds against the Tigers and five boards at Lovell cemented his spot in the big man rotation.

“In terms of what we need, he gets the rebounds, he gets putbacks,” Kistler said. “Against Lovell, he matched up well against their bigger guys. If he keeps going to the basket hard, getting rebounds and putbacks, he’ll keep getting minutes.”

Offensive rebounds were a big part of the Panthers’ offense on Saturday, especially for Heinen.

“That’s how we’re going to be successful,” Kistler said. “We don’t have a lot of scorers, we don’t have a lot of people who dribble-penetrate. We’re going to have to get our wins with that old school method, with one or two shots per possession. I think they’re starting to believe in that method a little bit.”

Relying on boards — especially with players like Heinen, Meredith and Max Gallagher at Powell’s disposal — will work against most Class 3A teams, but not against the Lovell Bulldogs (7-4, 1-1), who feature two of the most imposing posts in the state.

Lovell senior Nic Haskell (6-8) and junior Trace Murphey (6-6) create matchup nightmares on the offensive and defensive ends.

Kistler had those two in mind when preparing for Friday’s contest.

“We put in some new looks, wrinkles off of our offense, that would pull Haskell and Murphey away from our basket,” Kistler said. “Murphey, he was a tough guy to get away from the basket and he swallowed up a lot of rebounds.”

The Panthers scored 11 more points than their previous game against the Bulldogs, but still lost by 19. Moore added nine points while Zach Schuler scored six and Smith had four.

“We had 25 turnovers against Lovell, which led to a lot of their points,” Kistler said. 

Overall, the offense looked better and was a precursor to Saturday’s performance.

“We were kind of consistent. We got over 40 and 50 points in both games, now our mentality has to be to hold the other team to 50 points,” Kistler said.

The Panthers embark on their longest road trip of the season to take on Mountain View (0-2, 1-10) on Friday and Pinedale (4-7, 1-1) on Saturday.

Kistler is relishing the chance for his team to block out distractions and focus on the task at hand.

“We get to spend two days where the guys just think of basketball,” Kistler said. “We get the whole day to travel down there and think basketball.”

The boys aim to return to Powell with a .500 conference record.

“We definitely would love to get two wins this weekend,” Kistler said.