Rejuvenated Star Valley prevails Saturday

Snapping a six-game losing streak, the Powell High School boys’ basketball team upset Pinedale, 61-57, on Friday night in the Panther gym. Going into the game, Pinedale had an overall record of 10-5 and Powell came in at 2-10.

Meanwhile, Star Valley bested the Powell boys 70-45 on Saturday.

“In terms of just getting better, I feel like Friday showed us what we can play like, because Pinedale was a better team than Star Valley,” said PHS head coach Chase Kistler. “I think that kind of highlighted how good we can play, but it also highlighted how hard we are going to have to work.”

After being down to Pinedale 30-24 at halftime, the Panthers outscored the Wranglers in the third quarter to trail 43-40 going into the fourth.

Just 12 seconds into the fourth quarter, TJ Abraham knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game; about a minute later, Abraham made a layup to put the Panthers up by two, 45-43.

The game then went back and forth for the next several minutes. Pinedale tied things back up at 51 about halfway through the period and then rebuilt a 57-53 lead.

However, the Panthers held the Wranglers scoreless in the final two and a half minutes of play while making critical free throws.

With 2:17 left in the game, Carson Heinen was fouled and made one free throw to make it 57-54. Then with 1:54 left in the game, Abraham made a layup to cut Pinedale’s lead to one, 57-56.

Neither team scored for the next minute and a half, then Abraham was fouled on a fastbreak layup with 29.4 seconds remaining. He made both free throws to put the Panthers ahead by one, 58-57.

Pinedale misfired on its next possession and Heinen grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled with 13.5 seconds left. With that being the Wranglers’ 10th personal foul, Heinen got two shots at the free throw line and he made one to put Powell ahead by two, 59-57.

Pinedale got the rebound, but missed a 3-pointer. This time, Jace Smith collected the defensive rebound. With 1.2 seconds remaining, Smith made both free throws to seal the 61-57 win.

The Wranglers outshot the Panthers on the floor — shooting 36 percent from beyond the arc and 41 percent from the field, compared to Powell’s 13 and 34 percent. However, the Panthers won the game at the free throw line, shooting 62 percent while Pinedale shot 48 percent.

Heinen led the Panthers with 20 points, with Kaelan Groves coming in second with 16.

Heinen also led PHS with three steals and nine rebounds (four on defense and five on offense). In rebounds, Zach Meredith was second highest on the team with eight, six of those coming from defense.

Overall, Powell out-rebounded Pinedale 45-40.

Abraham led in assists with four, Groves had three and Paige Gann and Luke Washington each had two.

Powell also had only 12 turnovers.

After the win over Pinedale, Powell tipped off against Star Valley on Saturday, who came into the game with a 2-11 overall record.

The Braves — who had their entire team back after having three players out due to injuries — grabbed a seven-point lead at halftime. That was due in large part to Panther turnovers.

“Had seven travel calls, that were good calls, in a row,” Kistler said. “Our guys traveled and we only had five possessions in the second quarter.”

After trailing at halftime, the Panthers were unable to cut into the lead.

Groves led PHS with 16 points.

One highlight for the game was that, outside of the traveling in the second quarter, the Panthers had only nine turnovers, for a total of 16 in the game.

In most games this season, Powell had been committing 20 or more turnovers per game. With a combined total of 28 between the two games, “I hope that is a sign that we are getting better in terms of protecting the ball,” Kistler said. “But now we just have to learn to defend a 3-point shot and put together some scoring. Because we have some high-power scoring teams in our conference.”

The Panthers now hit the road to play Mountain View on Friday at 7 p.m. and Lyman on Saturday at 2 p.m.